Mermaids on Legs
by Anne-Marie Helstone
Summary: Mavis saves folk at sea by turning them into mermaids at the cost of their memories. When a growing underwater evil overcomes the sea kingdom, Lucy and two others go to land in a desperate act to save their home. Will they be able to find the help they need, given that their transformation to humans was only mostly successful? Natsu is determined to help Lucy. Why? He remembers. AU
1. Chapter 1

**FRIENDS! Please re-read this chapter, it has been re-done to fix some problems later on. (See A/N on Chapter 5 for further details.)**

* * *

Though she preferred starlight herself, Lucy could still appreciate the beauty of the sun bouncing playfully about on the ocean surface. It was so bright, so effulgent. It was so different bobbing in the waves in the sparkling reflections than just under the water, where the dappled light flickered as if alive. Lucy craned her head back to look up to the blue sky. A clear day on the water and in the heavens.

A sharp yank on her shimmering aquamarine tail caused a moment of panic until a blue head of hair popped up next to her. "Juvia!" Lucy cried. "What in the name of- You frightened me!"

"You should know better by now than to be so unguarded, Lucy," Juvia chastised, her deep blue eyes looking out to the east. "Mermaids are not the top of the food chain, and you are not always capable in self-defense."

"I'm not completely useless," Lucy protested, though she knew Juvia was right. Lucy wasn't the strongest, and there were many dangers easily undetectable until it was too late. Like the dark ones.

"All the same, it is safer in numbers," Juvia stated. "There's another one coming."

Lucy's brown eyes dimmed. "Where?"

"East. Let's move."

Juvia dove underwater, followed by Lucy. Looking at her friend, Lucy admired the deep blues of Juvia's hair and tail slide gracefully through the water. Juvia was connected to the water around them in a way that Lucy could never hope to achieve; it was part of her, and she a part of it. It obeyed her and parted to let her pass more easily through its resistance, then closed around her in an embrace of fondness. When the sunlight managed to hit her, it was like looking at a sapphire.

Glancing down at herself, she took in her lighter scales and streaming blonde hair. Unlike her companion, Lucy did not blend seamlessly in the water. She stood out, even more so than the others. Ever since waking up beneath the waves, Lucy'd had a difficult time finding a place to belong. There was a place inside Lucy, a little hollow that longed to be filled. Friends, companionship, connection: even once she'd found Juvia and Gajeel, that little hollow had yet to be filled. Assuaged, yes, but not filled.

"Lucy, hurry," Juvia called. "We mustn't be late."

So Lucy stopped her musings and sped after Juvia. She was right. They couldn't be late, not if there was a chance to save someone from the dark.

* * *

Gajeel was already waiting for them by the ships, studying the wooden bellies above him with impatience. "They already know they're just gonna blast each other to bits. Why even bother pretendin' to parley first?"

Lucy scoffed. "Yes, because they should give up a chance at a peaceful solution just because you're getting bored waiting for them."

Juvia remained silent, looking behind Gajeel. Lucy turned to see what had caught her attention. It was two dark ones. Of course they were here, looking for more souls to steal for their twisted master. Dying at sea wasn't as simple as it sounded. Those who died "before their time" were sometimes saved by Mavis, receiving new lives as merfolk. When waking in their new forms, they had no recollection of the lives experienced before. Just new bodies, new forms, new world.

"Don't it just make you glad yer not as ugly as them?" Gajeel muttered, garnet eyes flashing distastefully. He himself was handsome in a rugged, slightly frightening way, all angular and muscular with long black hair and ebony scales. "I mean, ugly and stuck doin' some jerks dirty work? Nuh uh."

The blonde mermaid repressed a shudder as the dark ones began circling, awaiting their victims to drag them off. She wasn't sure how the process worked, but when completed, the drowning human had lost its soul and become a creature of evil emanating promises of filth, and following through with despair. This was the fate of those not saved by Mavis.

Of the three options for drowning at sea, Lucy felt fortunate that Mavis had found her first. Now she had the opportunity to try and ease the pain of passing for others.

"Oi, here we go," Gajeel grunted as debris plunged into the water along with bodies and faint trails of blood. The shark-like dark ones shot forward in action. Lucy and her companions did the same. It was time to get to work.

* * *

Lucy was tired from the scene of carnage. Watching humans blast each other to smithereens took a lot out of her, yanking on her compassionate heart and making her feel guilty for every life she could not save. But then, only Mavis could transform a drowning human into a merfolk. Lucy, like every mermaid, had her Kiss she could use at her discretion, but that was hardly something to be used lightly. It all boiled down again to not being able to save many other than by keeping them from the hands of the dark ones.

Gajeel and Juvia knew the blonde liked being alone after grisly jobs, and let her be as she swam away. There was an area not far from shore littered with tall rocks and pillars jutting out from the water, a real menace to any ship daring to traverse that route. Most just avoided it altogether, which made it perfect for Lucy: she could perch on the rocks, admiring the clouds and tiny outlines of distant ships in the daytime, and speaking to her friends the stars in nighttime, all in relative privacy. The sea cliff kept people away on the landside as well.

Something was different when she arrived, however. A ship was caught tilted on the rock pillars protruding from the water. It blazed with bright flames, burning pieces falling to the ocean below. People were falling, too. Screaming people, frightened people. Lucy swam closer cautiously. She didn't see any dark ones around, so at least she didn't have to fight with any of them for the potential dead.

How in Mavis' name had the ship gotten up there? It was mostly out of the ocean water. There was no feasible way, unless a large wave had pushed them. The sea was too calm for such a wave today, so that couldn't be a possibility. And looking again, Lucy saw the massive force would've had to come from the direction of the sea cliff. Waves didn't come from the shore. So what had happened?

More yelling echoed out. Getting closer, Lucy could make out some words among battle screams.

"We don't know what yer talkin' bout! We swears it!"

"None of us know!"

"I haven't seen anythin' like that!"

A roar sounded out, and more fire erupted from the ship deck. This went beyond basic ship warfare. Something different was happening this time. Lucy could feel power throbbing in the air, a power mere cannons could never hope to possess. And the power felt very angry, fiery. Apparently the humans on the ship felt it as well, because what remained of the crew jumped ship for relative safety of the water, anything to get away from that massive aura.

A dingy only mildly aflame landed not too far from Lucy. Anyone even mildly capable had made for shore as quickly as possible. Lucy looked around at the helpless ones, then back to the dingy. She seized the rope attached to it, and pulled it along. The unconscious sea men floating around were tied to the dingy and then pushed towards the shoreline. That was the most she could do for that lot.

Creaking, ripping wood sounded loudly. Lucy stared in awe as the ship rent in twain, and plunged into the water, being further torn apart by the rock pillars around it. It was both horrifying and awe inspiring to watch. What had caused this?

Deciding to retreat to a safe distance to watch for any more humans, Lucy backtracked through the pillars. So much for a calming period away from carnage. Reflecting a bit, Lucy realized that none of the humans had been mortally wounded. Beaten and roughed up, shocked and terrified, yes. But none on the verge of death. Was this controlled chaos then?

Spotting a large piece of driftwood banging against a pillar, Lucy made her way over quickly, emerging from the water. She could see someone barely hanging on. It was a man seriously wounded with a massive jagged wood shard pinning his right arm to his abdomen. She had spoken too soon. Here was grisly carnage enough for the entire battle. He'd probably been speared when the ship had cracked and hurled its shards every which way. Clearly this man had not long to live, no wonder he had no strength to keep much of his body out of the water.

His unfocused onyx eyes opened wide as the "mythical" sea maiden pulled herself up to rest by his side, shouts and explosions thick around them. Proffering a grin marred by pain, he said, "Fancy meeting you here."

Lucy merely raised a brow, either at his greeting or his rose-hued hair, but her expression quickly changed to pity when she examined his wound more closely. Perhaps it would be best to take this one down into the water for a mercy killing, he had to be in so much pain. And it would be better to ease him into the next life rather than allow the dark ones to take him. True, it wouldn't be a real Mercy, and might be more painful because of that.

Apparently he could interpret her expression, because he struggled to lift his left hand in defense. "No, please don't. I'm gonna make it."

She felt her heart breaking a little in pity for this smiling human with too much hope. Perhaps… perhaps she should use it now? It would mean removing the giant splinter and inflicting severe pain, but if it saved him in the end, perhaps she should just do it.

"Don't do anything drastic, I'm gonna be fine in a minute," he said with another grin. "Gotta get back up there and finish the job." He tried to move, but instead coughed up some blood, weakly fluttering his hand between his large wound and wiping the blood from his mouth. "After that, I just gotta get to shore, and I'll be fine."

Steadying him when a falling mast crashed into the water not too far from them, Lucy made a decision. She would do it, she would use her Kiss for this man. Bracing herself for the difficult first task, she wrapped her hands around the wood impaling his arm and torso and ignored his protests and gasps of pain as she yanked hard. He yelled in agony. It didn't come out all the way, and she had to try again before she could fling the thing away as bloody flotsam.

"Really, I heal faster than most people," he said faintly. "And Wendy'll help out, too."

His body was going into shock, eyes unfocused and flat as she leaned down over him. She placed her hands on his wounds and then, with a deep breath, pressed her lips to his. The kiss was cold and salty, and she didn't know if it was working. A mermaid's Kiss could save you even from the brink of death, but it had to be her first, and it only worked once. She had to want it badly, it had to fueled by her desires; it could never be forced from her to heal another. Her kiss was a precious treasure jealously guarded, saved until she felt it was needed. And Lucy definitely felt that it was needed now. This man needed to be saved. She pressed her lips more firmly to his. She couldn't break away until he was healed, until his wounds were closed.

Focused as she was on feeling the wounds close, she was startled when his hand came to cup the side of her face, then trail back into her hair, pulling her closer to him as he moved his lips against hers. A warming thrill of magic tingled through her, and she lifted her face from his to look down at his wounds. It had worked; the only signs of his injuries were the holes in his jacket. A smile burst on her face. She had done it. She had saved him!

She looked up to face him, and met his very aware, very intent eyes. "Lucy?" he asked.

Her smile slacked. How did he know her name? And with his wound vanished, she could feel a pressure around her which hadn't been there before. Something potent, something very present.

"Lucy," he repeated, no longer asking a question. He propped himself on his left arm, and used his newly healed right arm to reach out towards her cheek.

Before he could touch her, she leaped into the water and swam low into its protective cover. How did that man know her name? Was it a side effect of the Kiss? Did it forge some strange connection with the recipient? She should ask someone about that later.

For now, she would just get out of here and find somewhere she really could have some peace and quiet. There was only so much a beautiful mermaid could take before she reached her limit.

* * *

"Don't think the dark ones got too many of 'em," Gajeel said on their way back their home coves after another incident a few weeks later. "Since most of the dead ones were just blasted to smithereens instead of drownin', there wasn't much to work with."

Lucy agreed. She hated the battles of humans, and if it weren't for the chance to help Mavis to spare others, she would stay as far away as possible. But she felt compelled to help when she had the ability to do so. Otherwise, what was the point in having power in the first place?

"I'm just glad there were none who needed a mercy, since none of us could have done it for them," Juvia said. After a mermaid had used her Kiss, she was no longer able to heal, but she could use a kiss to attach the wounded or dying men to herself and then drag them down into the depths, effectively administering a mercy killing. At least, it was a mercy killing if you did it the right way. Otherwise, it was just drowning men, murdering them. Juvia hadn't yet used her Kiss. Lucy had decided to keep her Kissing experience to herself until she had the chance to speak with Mavis about the strange encounter.

"Well, I'm grateful that there weren't many new recruits for them, since the darkness has been growing lately. Haven't you felt it?" Lucy asked. And it was true. Outside of the barrier of their coral reef city, it was getting darker thanks to the growth of filth coming from the Crevice, the home of the dark ones and their master. But inside their coves, they were safe. Inside, they were protected, thank Mavis.

Swimming languidly along the coral avenues of the merfolk's underwater city, all of which led to the majestic palace in the middle, they remained silent and enjoyed the peace of their home. In general, Lucy was the chatty Cathy, and would speak freely, but at the moment, she just wanted to relish the peace of her home. It served as such a contrast to the battle they had just come from. They saw other merfolk travelling by, acknowledging them with nods and waves. There were smiles, bright colors, pearlescent sheens. Lucy loved it here.

Confusion replaced her warm feelings. How did that human man know her name? He had invaded her thoughts many times in the weeks since The Incident. She couldn't ask him because her voice had the tendency to drive men insane with her siren call, even if she wasn't trying to. It depended on how susceptible the man was, but she'd wanted to keep on the safe side. Juvia and Gajeel never had this problem, though. They just kept quiet around humans because they wanted to, not because they needed to. Another point of unfairness Lucy liked to gripe about from time to time. Someday she would find a useful advantage to her siren's voice, and gloat to Gajeel about it.

Lucy allowed her thoughts to continue along the lines of her friends rather than the perplexing matter of the human man. Until Mavis could answer her questions, it was better to just do what she could and move on with her life.

Just as they were about to go through the arch leading to the shimmering castle of the Sea King, an agitating wave came charging through their peaceful waters, knocking aside merfolk and loose coral and statuary alike.

"What in starlight's name was that?!" Lucy shrieked from her new place on the floor.

"I've no idea," Juvia answered. She had not been thrust down, merely parting the charging waters instead. Lucy felt a bit jealous. Her gifts only worked on the surface.

They heard shouts coming from the direction the wave had originated. Gajeel swam higher to get a better view. "What's that black stuff? Ink?"

"No squid is that large," Juvia countered as she studied the swelling cloud billowing upwards and outwards. Their tails were strong enough to keep them steady through another shockwave.

"Whatever it is, it's not good," Lucy said, shivering on the floor at the feeling from the mysterious darkness. What was it? It felt like… cold? No, more like a void, an absence. Her mouth dropped when she saw a cluster of mermaids getting sucked into it during yet another rocking shudder and vanish. "We need to get out of here! We need to find Mavis!"

Panic was starting to set in as the black cloud spread faster and consumed more merfolk. Gjaeel and Juvia turned and shot off towards Mavis's Sanctuary, Lucy following closely behind. She was always the slowest, just as she was always the weakest. Just as she couldn't swim as fast, she couldn't swim as steadily through all these shockwaves which were coming repeatedly from the epicenter, slamming her about in the avenues. But she couldn't stop. She had to get to Mavis to get help for the others! She may not be the strongest, but she was determined and reliable in any situation. She came through for her friends.

Juvia's hand reached out to grab hers and yank her into the outer courtyard of the sanctuary. Mavis didn't live here beneath the water since she was actually from the land, but she did come down to them from time to time. As she burst through the front door, Lucy was greatly surprised to find herself eye to eye with the diminutive female who had saved her from drowning years ago.

"Master Mavis?!" the merfolk cried.

"We're so glad you're here!" cried Lucy. "There's something-"

"There is no time to explain; we must act quickly if we are to save the others. Come with me." And with that interruption, they were enclosed into a magical sphere with Mavis, a sphere which went zooming through the water. Mavis was small, not much bigger than a human child, with long pale blonde hair that cascaded down her back over her pink dress. Though she was physically small, she was incredibly wise and knowledgeable. She would know what to do.

"Listen closely. Siegrain has launched an attack, and I cannot get everyone out. Not alone. I'm sending you three to land, and I need you to find the guild called Fairy Tail. It is the guild I created in my lifetime many years ago, and it has many powerful wizards who will be able to help us. Take this." She shoved a small clam into Juvia's hand. "Follow the instructions carefully. Find the Trident. We need it in order to break the darkness and get our friends out. Understand?"

Lucy did not understand why or how everything was happening so quickly. She had just been giving gratitude for how peaceful her home was, and suddenly, this? What was even going on?

Their protective sphere approached an ominous presence, a translucent wall barring the way to shore. Lucy could tell it was bad by the look on Mavis' face. "I will have to propel you from here. There may be side effects of transforming while going through the barrier, but there is no other choice at the moments. My calculations tell me that our best hope is to proceed onwards." Mavis turned to the trio of stunned merfolk with a small smile. "Find Makarov. He will help you. Work together, for bonds of unity can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds."

"Now hold on a minute," Gajeel started, but he didn't get the chance to finish before all three of them were jettisoned from the sphere towards the barrier, shrieking in alarmed surprise.

As she was hurtling towards shore, Lucy could hear Mavis's voice in her mind. "I will remain behind and do what I can for the rest. Be strong, my children. Good luck. Oh. And be sure to try the scallops."

When the voice faded, it was replaced by horrid pain in her lungs and a ripping sensation on her tail. She opened her mouth to call to the others, but found herself unable to produce any sound. A tendril of darkness slipped in and pierced her tongue and burned her throat. Searing sensations raged through her whole body as she felt her tail split in two. How could she help if she couldn't swim? Or, was she… Legs? Lucy wondered if she would even make it to shore to use them. Would she die here in this dark, unfriendly water?

She couldn't die. How would she help the others?

And that's when her mind slipped into oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

It was too bright, far too bright. Lucy didn't want to open her eyes any more than the sliver she was barely managing now. Why was the sun so bright? It occurred to her that it would be good to take in her surroundings and situation- she could be in danger for all she knew, lying there in the… water? Drifting back and forth with her body partially suspended, it definitely felt like water, the way it felt when she swam up to sit on the beach at Tenrou Island. Lapping waves. So, she was on shore then?

Deciding that it was time to take stock, Lucy forced her large brown eyes wide. Huh. It hadn't been too bright because it was high noon. Rather, it was evening, the sun already past set and leaving the sky's velvet violet and the horizon's simmering salmon to play across the ocean. The stars would be out soon.

She had been right about the beach, though. Part of her body rested on the sand in the shallow waves, leaving the rest of her to move with the ebb and flow. How relaxing. Except for her head, which was pounding. Raising a hand to her forehead in an attempt to soothe the pain, she glanced around. Boats in a harbor, plenty of sand leading up to a wall, and a human town above that.

A human town?! She had to move! She couldn't be seen out here in the open! Clenching her muscles to spring up, she surged upward only to fall back again when her tail failed to counterbalance her weight. Instead, it split apart in two opposite directions. Lucy gazed, shocked, at what used to be her tail. Instead of teal scales and fins, she now had two peachy colored legs, complete with feet and toes. She brought a foot as close to her face as she could for further inspection. _Odd looking, this thing_ , she thought.

Lucy braced her hands on the ground and pushed herself slowly into a seated position. Alright, so she had new limbs; she was human. That's right. She remembered now. Mavis had sent them to land to find help from the Fairy Tail guild. Perhaps the best place to start was finding her friends first.

She stood cautiously, and felt a little ridiculous as her behind rose in the air while she maintained her hands on the ground for support, knees knocking together in an effort to keep strong. Hopefully Gajeel wasn't just hiding somewhere watching so he could make fun of her for the next year. He could be a real pain like that.

As she walked her hands up her legs to right herself, she discovered something else: a shimmering silver material bunched at her waist. Standing upright was causing it to fall down to her ankles except for the two bunches in her fists. The material continued from the cinched waist up to shoulder clasps, with short split sleeves fluttering over her shoulders. A dress. Lucy was wearing a dress as ethereal as starlight on water. Somehow, the dress wasn't nearly as wet as the rest of her, and still managed to flow gracefully in the light breeze unlike her golden hair, which was clumped and inelegant. Maybe it was the fabric itself?

 _Perhaps a gift from Mavis to keep up from gathering the wrong kind of attention_ , Lucy thought. Mermaids were known for their beauty, after all, and having men throwing themselves at her would only slow her down in her mission to find help.

High-pitched screams ended her fascination with her new apparel. It sounded like Juvia. Lucy immediately responded by cupping her mouth to call out, "Juvia! Where are you?"

Only she wasn't able to make the first syllable before a clawing sensation tore from her lungs through her throat to just behind her teeth, silencing her voice except for gasps and hacks that bent her body in half. She drew in deep soothing breaths of salty air as she straightened. What was that? From extra water still in her lungs?

Another cry of pain came from the right further along the shoreline. Lucy could see two figures closing in on a third one lying prone on the sand just out of the reach of the lapping waves. "Ju-!" Lucy tried again to speak, but only succeeded in repeating the harsh process of pain incapacitating her once again. Very well. She wouldn't call out; she would act.

Lucy took off running towards the trio in the distance. Her dress was long enough to require her to lift it from her feet so she could move faster. She could now see Juvia's blue hair, and a dress similar to the one Lucy was wearing. And two men hovering over her friend, one of them shirtless, reaching out to touch her. Not on Lucy's watch!

With as much energy from her momentum as she could muster, Lucy crashed into the first man, who toppled into the next, both landing on the sandy ground. Despite her now very sore shoulder (what was he, a rock?) and ignoring the protests of the humans, Lucy crouched protectively before Juvia, who was losing her balance while trying to roll over and sit up.

"Feet! I can't- feet- hurt!" Juvia cried, clutching Lucy's arm in agony.

Without thinking things through, Lucy pushed Juvia backwards to her elbows and pulled her feet up to inspect in the dim light, leaving the fluid skirt to fall back and expose pale calves. Those feet weren't a pretty sight. It looked like they had been shredded, dragged over some jagged edges, messy and bloody. What had Juvia stepped on? Fearing what would happen should she attempt to ask, Lucy settled for finding something to help the bleeding.

But what? Lucy looked desperately around for anything to bind the wound. Back in their home, they had seaweeds especially for wounds. But what did they use here?

A ripping sound pulled her attention back to the two men. The shirtless one now had no pants. His companion was tearing a dark garment into strips.

"What are you thinkin', flame breath?" shouted the unclad man.

"I'm thinkin' they need bandages and you don't use your clothes anyway," he replied. As the first man cursed and searched for his pants, the second handed the strips to Lucy, who grabbed them and quickly wrapped Juvia's sliced feet. She would clean them later. But first they needed to stop the bleeding and get to safety.

"What happened?" Juvia asked as Lucy worked, voice a little stuffy from her tears. At the blonde's confusion, Juvia clarified, "You have blood by your mouth."

Lucy gave her friend an incredulous look. Here Juvia was losing blood through horrid wounds on her newly formed feet, and she was asking Lucy about a trifling split lip? How ludicrous. She went back to work without bothering to answer. If she even could answer.

"It's pretty bad," Juvia pushed on, reaching a hand out. "You're taking care of me; let me help you, too."

Lucy just waved her off, focused on tying off the first foot and starting on the second. The human was still ripping the shirt and providing her with a constant stream of wrapping for the two former mermaids. The sooner they were done, the sooner they could leave and do what Mavis asked them to do.

"Uh, do you girls need some help?" a hesitant man's voice asked.

The man had asked them if they girls needed any help. But their party wasn't made of just girls. Gajeel. Where was he? Lucy sat up straighter, then stood, Juvia's foot still in her hand and making the other girl's dress slip further up her leg.

"Were you in a boat wreck or something?" came another question from the humans.

"Have you seen Gajeel?" Juvia asked Lucy as the girl alternated between darting right and left trying to see further up the beach in both directions, yanking Juvia's foot about with every frantic course change. "Ouch! Be careful, please!" the bluenette demanded as she pulled her foot away from Lucy, not caring that the end of the tightly wound bandage was beginning to flutter as the whole thing loosened. Lucy didn't know whether to finish that job or look for Gajeel.

The first man, now wearing pants again, asked, "So there's someone else too? Can we help?"

"You haven't seen him either? We need to find him. He could be hurt!" Juvia said. "And I can't move!"

"What does he look like? We can help!" insisted the other man.

Lucy met Juvia's eyes and nodded. Gajeel first, then finish Juvia's foot. She looked to the sky. No stars there. No stars there. She ran into the waves till they touched her ankles, and looked towards the horizon and darted her glance back and forth coming closer to where she stood on the shore. This time could be awful, the time between sunlight to illuminate and starlight to guide. It was so hard to find anything. She needed just one star, just one. _There!_ Lucy smiled and raised her right hand up towards that beautiful sparkle in the heavens.

 _Hello, my friend,_ thought Lucy. _Have you seen my friend Gajeel? I need to find him._

She held still for a moment, nothing moving but her dress and drying hair in the ocean breeze. She held her peace, and listened. It was hard to tune out the humans questioning Juvia, but she managed to still herself and focus her attention.

 _Look to your left, by the rock outcropping._

It was a silent voice, more like a caress in her mind than an actual voice, soothing and beautiful and ethereal. The voice she felt when she spoke with the stars. The stars had never let her down.

 _Thank you, friend,_ she said sincerely.

Dropping her hand, she rushed to a large group of rocks jutting out of the water just a little deeper than her calves. The water was pushing a dark, bulky figure into its lichen-covered surface. _Gajeel._ She grabbed him by his underarms and started pulling him back to Juvia. They were all together. They could work things out from here. If Gajeel didn't have any wounds, he'd be able to help carry Juvia when he came to. They could get on the move.

 _Mavis, things are so much heavier out of the water!_ Lucy thought as she lugged Gajeel along. He was so quick with his tail in the open ocean, easily outpacing her even at her fastest. Maybe she'd be faster than him out here on land, what with him being so big and heavy. Despite her concern for the situation, she allowed a satisfied grin of fantasy at the possibility of beating him at anything physical.

Suddenly, Gajeel was a lot lighter, making Lucy stumble back a bit. She looked up surprised. It was a man, the one who had handed her the strips for bandaging. He was helping her bring Gajeel back, easily pulling the man up in his hold despite the fact Gajeel was bigger. Maybe these men weren't so bad, seeing how much they'd given to Juvia and now Gajeel.

"Is he alright? Is he hurt?" Juvia asked as they lay him beside her. The other man had her foot in his lap, having just finished the wrapping job Lucy had started.

Lucy dropped to her knees and started checking Gajeel for wounds, running her hands along his arms since it was too dark to see clearly. No blood there. She crawled down and grabbed his feet. No blood there either. His face seemed fine. She began running her fingers through his wild mane of black hair, checking his scalp for cuts or bumps. The wild sea ride had made his hair even worse than Lucy's.

"What the- stop yanking my hair, ya crazy mermaid!" Gajeel yelled as Lucy's hand snagged on a particularly bad knot, his eyes popped wide in indignation. To Lucy's horror, the whites of his eyes started turning dark as he bellowed in pain. He clamped his eyes shut, ramming his fists onto them, rubbing furiously. Lucy grabbed at his hands to try to pull them away and see what was wrong.

Juvia made to stand and help, only to cry out as soon as she put weight on her foot and drop back to the ground. "Stupid feet! Let me help Gajeel!" Lucy reached a hand out to her, but was brought back to the thrashing Gajeel when his elbow knocked her on her rear.

"Here, stay off your feet," said the shirtless man, pulling Juvia's feet back into his lap.

Seeing Gajeel ease up on his face smashing and begin to calm down and take deep breaths, Lucy leaned forward tentatively, ready to move back should Gajeel start to flail once more. She gently pulled a hand from his face to be met with a grisly picture. Blood. The dark red liquid had been smeared about by his rubbing, and created a morbid mask around his eyes.

Lucy gasped. _What in the name of Mavis is going on here?_ she thought. _My voice, Juvia's feet, and now Gajeel's eyes… What is going on?_

While Lucy was freaking out over Gajeel's eyes, his hands were busy exploring the fabric on his torso. Gathering fistfuls of the silvery stuff, he pulled higher and higher on the seemingly never ending amount of fabric.

"Why the heck am I wearin' a dress?" he asked.

She hadn't noticed before, but it was true. Gajeel was wearing a very large version of the same gown she and Juvia were wearing. It didn't fit him as well, to say the least. Lucy just stared at him a moment, appreciating the picture. She would never forget this, and if she ever got her voice back, neither would he.

"Star girl," he addressed Lucy. "Why am I in a stinkin' dress?" He spoke in a tone of indignation that close friends knew meant a storm was coming in hard. Unfortunately for him, it was nearly impossible to take him seriously in his current state.

Juvia was the one who broke the silence with her laughter, hard laughter that brought tears and gasps. Lucy could hear the two human men snorting, then laughing loudly along with Juvia. She tried hard not to make a sound.

"Stop laughin' and answer my question!"

And then Lucy couldn't help it anymore. This whole situation was just too far beyond reasonable. Her lips were burst open with a burst of air carrying the first sound of her laugh, but it was quickly replaced by that same awful ripping feeling in her throat and mouth, like some clawed hand was tearing from her lungs up through her tongue.

"Lucy! Are you alright?" Juvia reached out to her while Gajeel demanded to know what was happening and the two humans shouted their own exclamations.

As her coughs died down, Lucy placed both hands on her throat and leaned against the solid something behind her to hold her kneeling position steady. The coughing had been so intense she was lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. She closed her eyes and focused on breathing, imagining cool water and air bathing the burning scars in her throat, trying to mentally rid herself of the physical pain.

"You've got more blood running down your chin now," Juvia said quietly. "Is that what happened last time?"

Lucy nodded. So much for thinking the blood Juvia had seen earlier was from a measly split lip. No such luck for her.

"Does that happen every time you try to talk?" This question came from one of the humans.

Lucy nodded again.

"Oi! Star girl, I can't see, remember? Someone tell me what's goin' on!"

"It seems whenever Lucy tries to speak, she coughs hard enough to bleed, rather like my feet when I try to stand get badly cut, and your eyes start crying blood," Juvia explained in a monotone, almost like it were a clinical summary of someone else's case.

"Well, that sucks," Gajeel stated casually. "This whole thing sucks. How the heck're we supposed to find that guild now? And why am I wearin' a stinkin' dress?"

Lucy took one more long breath, and leaned back to open her eyes. The stars were out more fully now. She could see so many of them. That was nice, familiar- something to cling to when nothing else was making sense.

"Perhaps these humans could help us," Juvia said slowly, almost like a question.

Lucy just shrugged. They came on land to find humans to ask them for help; she supposed asking other humans to help them find the humans of Fairy Tail couldn't be such a bad idea. But she sure wasn't going to try to ask anyone anything for a while. She'd had enough for now, thank you very much.

Juvia turned to the human whose lap still held her foot. "Please, sir," she began with a bowed head. "Would you be able to tell us where to find the guild known as Fairy Tail?"

A snort close to Lucy's ear pulled her gaze up to her right. Oh. A white scarf around a neck. A neck connected to a face on a head adorned with pink hair. A human. She'd been leaning against one of the humans, had pressed herself further against him while looking at the stars. Oh. And it would seem his arms were wrapped around her as well. Oh. Oh, _my._

"I'm pretty sure we can help you with that," said her resting pole. She just continued to stare at the juncture of his neck and jaw as he spoke. He had a very nice jawline, she noted, strong, full of self-assurance.

"Yeah, pretty easy actually, considering we are from Fairy Tail," said the other man. "We can take you with us when we go back tomorrow."

"Really? Could you?" Juvia clasped her hands together over her heart. "It would help us so much if you could arrange for us to have a meeting with a man called Makarov. Do you think that would be possible?"

"Yeah, we can do that," he replied.

Juvia gushed her gratitude for the kind man who helped her with her foot bandages and would be taking them to Fairy Tail and arranging a meeting with Makarov out of the goodness of his heart. Lucy gave a faint smile. Juvia never had any emotion halfway. If she felt it, she _felt_ it, and so did everyone around her.

"Er, no problem," the man said awkwardly, unsure of how to react to such vehement appreciation.

"You guys have anywhere to stay the night?" asked the attractive jawline.

Gajeel scoffed. "I just got hauled outta the water by a star girl who can't talk and lyin' here blind next to someone who can't walk. Does it look like we got somewhere to go?"

"Natsu, that was pretty dumb," agreed Juvia's foot-keeper.

"Not as dumb as your face!" retorted a still attractive, if slightly less intelligent, jawline.

"That's a lame comeback, flame for brains," taunted the other. "Run out of good ideas when you tore up my shirt?"

"It's not like you ever use your clothes for more than a few minutes, ya perverted ice prick!"

Juvia blushed when she looked appreciatively at the man's well-defined torso and arms. Lucy couldn't see as well from her position, especially since it was dark, but Juvia was clearly enjoying what she was observing from closer range.

"If they're going with us tomorrow, they may as well stay with us tonight," said the white scarf. Lucy thought it was soothing, looking like it was made of scales. She missed her scales and tail and voice.

"If you two are done arguin', great," Gajeel muttered. "I don't care who's naked or not since I can't see nothin', but I want outta this woman dress now. Someone get me man clothes."

As Gajeel continued his demands for pants and Juvia berated his rudeness to the kind man who helped her feet, Lucy just sighed deeply in an attempt to keep from laughing. The exhale drew the attention of Natsu, the man of the attractive jawline. His arms around her tightened slightly as he turned his face to meet hers, and she lost her breath. Handsome even in the dark, she felt a jolt run through at the sight. Was it…

"Hello again, Lucy," he said with a blinding grin.

It was the man she'd healed with her kiss. It was the man who knew her name.

 **Dear Friends,**

 **Thank you for the support and follows. I appreciate the people who took a moment to leave a review. It really is fodder for the writing soul. In other news, some business:**

 **This story will be updated on Tuesdays, unless I suffer a fit of creativity and brilliance and post earlier. Or when I write instead of whatever else I should be doing.**

 **I shall be adding on occasion some tidbits about mermaid folklore when pertinent to the chapters. Today's is rather a well-known one: In the original "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen, the little mermaid could not walk as a human without excruciating pain in her feet, like lots of knives and needles in her feet- but she kept walking to be with her beloved prince. She also couldn't speak. I added some details to that, and added a blind Gajeel to the mix. So here you have mer-people who have some major disabilities due to becoming human.**

 **Also, please note that I will be reposting the first chapter with some edits. I tried editing in the little edit feature, but that hasn't worked. (I have no idea if that feature works for anyone, or if you're just supposed to repost it for every edit. If you know, let me in on it, eh? But I'll let you know when I'm going to do that. The story will continue to be updated with a new chapter at least once a week.**

 **If you liked the story, or found something I could improve on, please, let me know in a review!**

 **Or if you know of a great fic, or you're writing one, let me know about that. You can never have too much Fairy Tail.** **(Though real life might say otherwise.)**

 **Cheers!**

 **Anne-Marie**


	3. Chapter 3

"Mavis did say there could be side effects from the transformation," Juvia reminded Gajeel as they rested in the train's closed compartment. The rattling and swaying of the transportation was soothing to her, reminding her of the way the ocean was constantly in motion. When she'd told Lucy so a few minutes after departing, Lucy could tell Juvia was missing the water, and felt for her friend.

Gajeel snorted. "This goes beyond some 'side effects.' This is bein' a cripple!" He rubbed at the bandage wrapped around his head to keep his eyes closed. Lucy had insisted on doing something to protect him, even if he wasn't too certain about how helpful some wimpy scrap of cloth would be. Lucy hadn't given him much of a choice, however. Even if it didn't actively make his condition better, Lucy thought that perhaps a bandage made of his discarded dress might have some benefit. Clearly the fabric had some sort of magical properties, considering it didn't get soaked or dirty when being tossed and dragged about on the beach. It didn't even have bloodstains. Gajeel grumbled again. "How the heck're we gonna do anythin' now?"

"Well, we're already on our way to Fairy Tail, which is what Mavis told us to do," Juvia began. "So that's something."

"But what about findin' the Trident, huh?" Gajeel pessimistically demanded. "What are we supposed to do about that?"

Juvia fell silent, not having a response. However, Gray did as he walked into the compartment bearing gifts of food. "That's why you're coming to Fairy Tail with us. I don't know what you guys are looking for, but we'll do our best to help ya."

Gray Fullbuster was the man who had the propensity for losing his clothing, the one who had inadvertently donated his shirt to Juvia's wounded feet. He was tall, dark haired and dark eyed, with a cool voice and persona. In short, he was the kind of man that would feature as the prince in a mermaid's fairy tale, a prince worth going to land for. And Juvia seemed very ready to go to land for this Gray.

"You have brought us food? Thank you for your generosity and thoughtfulness!" Juvia enthused when Gray handed her a sandwich.

Gray raised an eyebrow, apparently thinking a mere sandwich wasn't worth all the fuss, but replied with, "No problem."

Listening to Juvia happily munch and praise the bread, meat, and cheese, Lucy just laid her head against the window on her left and watched the landscape. Trees and grass and bushes: they were so different than her underwater home. In the water, there was motion, undulations with the ocean's life force. Here, when the wind wasn't blowing, things we still. And if Lucy looked forward instead of up, it was also a lot more crowded here than in the ocean, too. People walked, rode trains, planted food, had buildings, and did everything on the ground. They couldn't just swim up higher if they wanted to have some open space for them to breathe. Looking up at the sky wasn't the same as being able to swim higher towards the surface and be suspended with no one and nothing around you. The clouds were so high. Lucy found herself wondering if those clouds were like the waves on the surface of the ocean: if she could fly, would she be able to break through those clouds and find another world above the sky the same way she found another world of humans and sunlight and boats above her watery home?

"Blererggh." A miserable moan shattered Lucy's poetic musings. She looked to her right to find Natsu slouched down in his seat, a pale green visage contrasting his rosy-hued hair. He clutched his stomach with one arm, the other hand pressed tightly against his mouth. "Do you have to eat in here? It's making everything worse!" The train bumped a bit higher, and Natsu slumped a bit lower.

Gray had no pity for his companion. "We all agreed it would be best to sit in a private compartment to keep us together and allow us to talk. And it's not like we can just not eat. We've been travelling since morning; we need lunch."

It was true. After helping the three former merpeople to a hotel, Gray and Natsu had acquired some food and a set of men's clothing for Gajeel. Not wanting to be a burden on the kind men, Juvia had dug her fingers through her blue locks until she found a blue-sheen pearl, and pulled it out. She'd asked the humans if the humble offering would assist them in financing the costs. The two were stunned and, after blinking and exclaiming over how rich Juvia's head was, sold the pearl for enough funds to cover the hotel rooms, food, and train tickets, with some left over as well. Apparently mermaid pearls were rather valuable.

"But the smell's so strong and-" another groan from the sick man for another jostle. "I think I'm dying."

"So shut up and do it quietly so we can eat in peace." And Gray munched happily away at his lunch. Lucy suspected he was enjoying Natsu's pitiful display.

Juvia tapped Gajeel's arm to offer him some food, but the only response she received for her efforts was a gruff grunt. Gajeel's head rested on his fisted hand as he sat across from Lucy, and he had a light sheen of perspiration on his brow, clearly uncomfortable. Lucy suspected he was feeling ill, much like Natsu was, but being Gajeel, he would never admit such weakness.

Yet another strangled noise of pain made Lucy think that perhaps Natsu was the sickest one. The poor thing looked nearly gelatinous in the uncomfortable crumpled position he had adopted in his seat. She varied between concern for his well-being and concern for her clothing: the dress from Mavis had proven to be water and blood resistant, but vomit? Lucy didn't care to test that theory.

She wondered if he couldn't just fall asleep. Even though the three merfolk had been beyond exhausted when they reached a hotel, Natsu had still been the first to fall asleep. Lucy had been astounded at his ability to just flop over and snore almost in the middle of a conversation. Gray had seemed indignant at this behavior as well, but had followed suit directly after berating his sleeping companion. The three were left to put themselves into human beds. Oh, well. At least they'd been able to clean themselves and their wounds with relaxing warm water. If Juvia hadn't been so excited for her turn, Lucy felt she could have stayed in the bath for hours.

A sideways glance at the pink-haired man informed her that while he may not be asleep, he could hardly be called lucid, what with the vacant expression and limp appendages. It was unlikely he would be responsive to anything but the occasional bumps on the track. She wondered if this man really did know her somehow, or if his knowing her name was some sort of byproduct of the kiss she'd given him. After his little greeting and massive grin on the beach, Natsu hadn't provided any further explanation, only helped get her to the hotel and fed. He didn't give any indication to the others that he knew Lucy, or had ever seen her before. Lucy couldn't exactly ask questions at the moment- her attempt at bidding her friends a good morning had ended with her coughing so hard she'd fallen backwards onto the bed.

But Natsu had been there to help with that as well, just as he'd been last night. He had simply handed her a glass of cool water and supported her while she drank it slowly. That was twice he'd helped her. No, wait, thrice? Two times while coughing, once while helping her lug Gajeel's massive form out of the waves. Lucy supposed that his and Gray exchanging the pearl for money, finding them accommodations and food, and bringing them to Fairy Tail to talk to Makarov should go on the list as well. Maybe she could do something to help him in return?

Looking around the compartment, Lucy noted the others had fallen asleep. No wonder. It had been a hectic and emotionally, and physically, trying eighteen hours. Natsu looked miserable. Lucy reached out a hand to help push him over to a more comfortable position, but hesitated. What would be more comfortable? Maybe he liked being hunched over so he could hold his stomach in an effort to hold himself to together. Her pause gave the train a chance to rattle once more and Natsu responded by oozing sideways to assume a half-lying down position in the seat to his right.

Lucy dropped her hand back down, relieved she didn't actually need to do anything. She wasn't sure how she should handle this situation. She'd never had the chance to speak with Mavis about the kiss, and what possible explanations there could be.

Besides, his grin…

Shaking her head, Lucy leaned against the window, determined to watch trees go by until she could doze off and find some respite from over-analyzing her situations. Sometimes sleep was the only place she had the chance to get away from her own overactive imagination. It was even worse now that Lucy had no one to speak with, and everything was stuck in a jumble in her mind. Perhaps when nightfall came, she could go outside and speak with her friends; at least they could still hear her. With that soothing thought, Lucy finally nodded off.

* * *

"Come on, Lucy, we've arrived." Gentle shaking. "Lucy, wake up." More gentle shaking.

But Lucy ignored Juvia. She was having a nice dream, a dream with sunshine coming through the top hand's width of water and kissing her face as she bobbed along lazily, happily. A dream with a cheerful school of fish swimming along to her left, making hairpin turns seemingly on a whim. A dream with-

"Oi, star girl! Get up!"

Lucy's consciousness was yanked from the comfortable ocean scene to a stilled train. Gajeel's voice wasn't gentle at all, unlike the first voice and touch. Lucy was only grateful Gajeel hadn't been able to see her location to reach out and shove her over to wake her from her sleep. Small blessings to his being blind, she thought dryly as she looked out the window.

They were at a train station. People were bustling about, some busy and alone, others leisurely and in groups. Lucy missed the smell of salt; they were too far from the ocean. She wondered how a city so firmly on land would smell.

The blonde was knocked out of her reverie by two raised voices.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Natsu had such enthusiasm, such drive for getting up and doing things. Especially things that didn't involve sitting around and waiting.

Gray scoffed. "We're waiting for a way to get everyone out of here, flame 'tard."

Yes, Natsu had an excess of enthusiasm, Lucy noted. Just to the point where thinking things through wasn't his modus operandi.

"It would be difficult for Gajeel to move with the passages so crowded with the others also debarking," Juvia agreed.

Gajeel just gave another grunt as he stood. He was impressively tall as a human, and had maintained his muscular frame through the transformation. Lucy could tell he didn't like being such a dependent, a handicap to the group, when he was used to being the strongest one. It was quite the turnaround for him, a turnaround he despised. He wasn't even able to help carry Juvia, some strangers had to do it, strangers who may or may not end up being untrustworthy. It wasn't in Gajeel's nature to be trusting right off the bat. So instead of responding to anything, he instead focused on stretching his long legs and muscles while maintaining his balance.

"Not to mention carrying you through the narrow halls will be difficult if it's crowded," Gray added, slinging his pack over his shoulder.

Juvia's eyes lit up. She enjoyed being carted around by Gray, that was for sure. Lucy could feel Juvia's anticipation for another ride in the Bicep Boat from where she was sitting across from her.

It was Natsu's turn to scoff. "Well, why don't you put a shirt on before carryin' her across town? Or do you like gettin' felt up, ya perv-sicle?"

And it was true. Gray's shirt had come off yet again. Lucy was amazed at how he could be continuously as surprised as everyone else when his clothes went missing. In fact, sometimes it was as if he was the only one surprised by his state of undress. Natsu definitely wasn't reacting in a way that suggested this was unusual. It was quite the opposite; everything pointed to Gray being more undressed than not the majority of the time. Lucy doubted very many women objected. Gray was particularly sculpted and easy on the eyes.

"Dang it!" Gray shouted and fished his shirt from the floor. He put it on, then turned to Juvia, who had been watching his abs and pecs contract and move as he raised his arms to pull the shirt over his head, then down his torso. "You ready?"

Juvia nodded.

"Alright, here we go then." And with that, Gray scooped Juvia up princess style into his arms, and set off out of the compartment.

Lucy stood and took Gajeel's right hand to place on her left arm. He would walk himself, a slow shuffle, but he trusted Lucy enough to let her lead him. It was tricky since she wasn't able to sound any warnings, but she'd managed to guide him around stumbling blocks and dangers last night and this morning. She could do it again.

And she did so rather successfully as they walked down the aisle of the train to the door. She hit a snag when they came to stepping down the steps to leave the train, however. Natsu swiftly came in and voiced some directions to complement Lucy's guiding hand. While nudging Gajeel's foot forward with his own, Natsu looked up and shot Lucy a conspiratorial wink. That one threw her for a loop. Why would he wink at her? But then they were on the platform and ready to head for the guildhall. Lucy put it from her mind to be pondered, or forgotten, at a later time.

So their little procession set off down the streets of Magnolia: Gray carried Juvia in the lead, and Lucy followed with Gajeel firmly clasping her arm. Natsu brought up the rear, carrying his pack and strolling with his hands up behind his head. A cheerful fellow. Lucy wished she had the time for carefree observation of her surroundings, but she was too busy staring at the ground to avoid potential disaster. She would have to look around later. There were giant panes of color she could in her peripheral, and she wanted to explore them.

A delicious smell pulled her eyes to the right. It was a tented stall with a woman busily roasting and coating some sort of nut to sell to hungry pedestrians. Lucy stopped walking, not caring that Gajeel nearly bumped into her. It smelled absolutely wonderful. It didn't smell anything like the salty fullness of the ocean, but it still smelled divine. She wondered what it tasted like as she watched a young man approach the stall and purchase an open bag of nuts.

"Why'd we stop? We there?" Gajeel asked. His voice stopped Gray, who turned around to see what had happened. Lucy just continued to stare at the man buying the tempting treat.

When the man turned around and began to walk away munching on a handful of the nuts, his eyes met Lucy's and he stopped moving. He just stared into her wide, enchanting eyes for a few moments, then she glanced between his face and the bag of nuts. With a stutter, he held the bag out towards Lucy and asked, "Um, w-would you l-l-like t-t-to try some? They're al-almonds. C-cinnom-m-mon and s-stuff on them."

Lucy nodded eagerly. The man advanced, and Lucy delicately plucked an almond from the top and placed it in her mouth. Her eyes widened. It was as delicious as it smelled! She swallowed slowly. The man, who'd been watching her movements and expressions with that same dazed expression as when he'd stopped moving, asked, "Did you like it?"

She smiled brilliantly. She loved them! The man's jaw dropped, showing some lingering bits of chewed almond his in mouth. That made her smile even more. There were perks and entertainments that went along with being gorgeous.

"W-w-well, y-y-ou can have the r-rest, if you'd-d like," the man offered reverently.

Her eyes widened in delighted surprise, and she reached forward to take the bag, brushing the man's hand so lightly and briefly it was like it hardly happened. She immediately grabbed a nut and spun to push it into Gajeel's mouth, who sputtered, then decided chewing the foreign object was better than choking on it. Lucy didn't wait for his reaction, but pulled him forward to Juvia so she could offer her some of the fantastic almonds, too.

"What was that you put in my mouth, star girl?" Gajeel demanded as he shuffled after Lucy, trying to sound angry while smacking his lips to not miss any of the flavor.

"It's delicious!" Juvia exclaimed.

"But what is it?" Gajeel asked again. Lucy didn't answer, obviously, and just popped another nut in her mouth to savor.

The man had started walking forward again, and Lucy turned to give him a smile of gratitude as Juvia's face beamed happiness from the treat. He walked into a pole of the stand and fell backward on his behind, then just stared at Juvia and Lucy blankly, mouth still open.

Seeing the crowd starting to amass around them, Lucy started to feel uncomfortable. She didn't know how to ask to keep going other than to make a shooing motion, but would that be rude to Gray?

Natsu fixed the problem for her by walking up behind the man on the ground, and picking him up by the collar of his shirt to put him on his feet again. "There ya go! On your feet again! You gotta be careful with all these poles around, or you might knock over someone's booth!" The man colored lightly at being clumsy before so many people, but when he caught Lucy smiling at him again, his face went a lovely shade of red Lucy rather admired. "Well, let's get goin'! Come on!"

And he put his hand around Lucy's wrist and pulled her off down the street. Lucy resisted a bit to make him slow down, giving him a pointed look towards her treasured bag of nuts. She did not want to spill those along the street. Oh, and Gajeel. They should slow down for him, too. Was she an awful friend if her first thought was to care for the coated almonds? Natsu did slow down, but then increased his pace gradually until she needed to slow him again.

Just when she was getting ready to yank her hand from Natsu, Gray announced, "We're here at last."

They were in front of a large building on the far side of town. Lucy could see a large lake and some woods behind it, her heart tweaking with longing at the sight of water. It was an unusual building, three stories high, each one smaller than the last, with creamy walls and a large flag proudly emblazoned with the same emblem Lucy had seen on Natsu's shoulder and Gray's chest, and large letters over the doorway spelling out "Fairy Tail."

"Welcome to our guild," Natsu said with a grin. Lucy thought he looked sweet for a moment before he walked forward and literally kicked the doors open and shouted, "We made it back alive!" as he strolled into the guild hall.

Lucy's mouth just dropped open.

* * *

 **Dear Friends,**

 **I'm sorry this wasn't up last night, but for some reason my computer was having a hard time with the server, and I was unable to login at all. I thought it was a site thing, but this morning I restarted my computer and suddenly things were working. So, apologies, and here you go.**

 **This weekend is my brother's wedding, so if I don't update by Friday, then it won't be until next week sometime. After that, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled episodes, folks.**

 **Question: By a show of hands, who here would like a ride on the Bicep Boat? Juvia's got it pretty lucky. For a girl who can't use her feet, that is.**

 **Mermaid Trivia: Mermen are actually a thing, though they aren't as popular as mermaids. The most famous is probably Triton, who was the son of Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. You may be more familiar with his name from Disney's** _ **The Little Mermaid.**_ **In some cultures, they were considered to be wilder, and less attractive than their female counterparts. Like, perhaps, a heavy metal kind of guy? ;)**

 **I look forward to hearing from you! Let me know what you think, what you liked, what could be improved. I thank you for the reviews, and follows and favorites.** **It means so much!**

 **Have a glorious day!**

 **Anne-Marie**


	4. Chapter 4

An armor-clad woman held a sandy haired man against a bar along the far side of the room, a sword pressed against his throat. The hapless man's elbow was firmly planted in a piece of squashed something on a plate to his left, and he was attempting to curl into a fetal position while still standing. The woman's grip was strong enough to allow the man's legs to come up to his abdomen. And was she glowing?

Several more swords appeared in the air, all pointing at the pinned man.

"What excuse could you possibly have for this heinous crime?" she demanded. Her scarlet hair was as brilliant as the blood on the man's elbow, the same color as the blood that would come from the man's throat should she press any harder at all on her blade. The man just stuttered helplessly. No one else in the area seemed to mind this situation at all.

Lucy was horrified. This couldn't be the right place. It was a joke, right?

"Natsu! Gray! Welcome back!" called a cheerful voice from behind the bar.

"Hey, Mira. Good to be back," Gray responded, walking further in with Juvia towards a table.

But it could just be a place the two frequented. That didn't necessarily mean this was a guild hall. Maybe the sign on the front had been a figment of Lucy's imagination.

"You've been away from the guild for a while, Natsu."

Alright, so maybe it was a guild hall. Perhaps…

"It's good to be back at Fairy Tail!" Natsu said. "And we brought some new friends!"

Lucy was done trying to explain herself out of this madhouse where people ignored scrawny men being brutalized by immensely strong swordswomen. Apparently this really was the Fairy Tail guild hall, and these were the people Mavis sent them to for help.

What was Mavis thinking?

"Someone has nice metal," Gajeel muttered. Lucy blinked, frowning a little. He couldn't see the swords or armor or anything. How would he know about metal being in the room? "Real nice."

Did he just sniff the air while saying that? Lucy decided Gajeel needed some rest and pulled him over to the table where Gray had deposited Juvia. She eased out the edge of the bench for him, and tried to help him sit down comfortably.

"Stop your fussin', star girl," was all the thanks she got. Though disgruntled, she forgave him for it on the grounds of his being so self-conscious about needing help for once. Getting mad at her friend wouldn't make anything better. It would be even worse since with his being blind and her being mute, she would have no way to communicate with him to fix misunderstandings. Hardly a dynamic duo. They couldn't do anything.

Natsu and Gray were at the bar speaking to a beautiful girl with long white hair, and a face that seemed made for her gentle smile. The three former merfolk sat at their table in silence, looking around with wide eyes. At least, the girls did. Gajeel just hunched forward with his arms folded on the table exuding an air of irritation.

"Hello. So you're Natsu and Gray's new friends?" It was a deep, rich woman's voice, beautiful. Lucy was shocked to find it belonged to the scarlet-haired punisher. Not seeing the victim anywhere about, Lucy supposed the situation had been dealt with, and the man was either dead or in hiding. Either was a valid theory, really. "I'm Erza Scarlet."

Gajeel kept his head down. "Who said anythin' about bein' friends? We just needed to get to Fairy Tail, so we used 'em to help us."

Erza raised her eyebrows. "I see."

What a great way to introduce themselves. Juvia and Lucy met worried glances across the table. It would do no good to alienate themselves from the very people they'd been instructed to seek out. Besides, Lucy had seen Erza meting out justice only moments ago. She made a mental note to avoid Erza's displeasure as much as possible.

Juvia extended a hand. "Please, don't mind Gajeel. It's been a difficult journey for us, and our spirits are not very high at the moment."

Lucy nodded in agreement. If Erza knew their story, it would be easier to sympathize than rush to judgement. The thought made Lucy pause. Had she not herself just been drawing conclusions about the redhead on the scene witnessed when entering? Couldn't there be a reason for what she had seen? Maybe Lucy should take her own advice, and withhold her fear of Erza. Maybe, instead of fear, friendship could be there instead?

"I hope you are able to recover soon," Erza said graciously. "May I ask-"

"It's stronger here. You're the one with the metal." Gajeel was sniffing again, sniffing and interrupting. Lucy rubbed her temples.

"Yes, I wear armor and carry a sword at all times," Erza replied after a moment. Lucy didn't look up to gauge her reaction. She didn't think she wanted to know. Instead she continued gently massaging her temples while focusing her gaze on a knot in the table's wood, breathing deeply to inhale peace, and exhale chaos, inhale peace, and exhale-

Her heart jumped along with the rest of her when a plate of food slammed over the knot she'd been staring at. She took short, quick breaths to keep herself from letting out a strangled cry. That would only make things worse. And she really didn't want things to get any worse. She didn't think she could handle it if they did.

Another several plates were set calmly on the table before the others. Calmly, not emphatically. Lucy's eyes followed the arm attached to the dish and was not surprised to find it connected to Natsu. He did give off the impression of being energetic about everything he did, even something as menial as serving food to guests.

"Time to eat!" declared said rose-haired man as he settled down next to Lucy on the bench and pulled one of the filled plates towards himself. Lucy scooted to her left, distancing herself more from Natsu. The chaos of the past day had not diminished in her mind the fact he knew her name, and she still didn't know whether that was a significant fact, or something unimportant. She told herself it wasn't because she was petty enough to wonder what would become of her dress if she sat next to this vivacious man while he ate. It was because she was being wary, cautious, like any sane mermaid would be in her situation.

Gray took a seat directly across from Gajeel, and further away from Juvia than the bluenette cared for. Lucy worried for her expressive friend. Would she be taken advantage of here in the human world? Her emotions were so raw, so tender. Lucy determined to keep her friend safe.

"We thought a nice warm meal would help us all," Gray said, beginning to eat.

"Good thinking. A proper meal always helps raise morale," Erza agreed, and she joined them at the table as well.

Lucy studied the offerings, and then glanced at Gajeel. How would he be able to eat any of this? They all required utensils, and Gajeel was too proud to acquiesce to being fed in front of an audience. Was there nothing he could eat with his hands, kept in his grip so he wouldn't have to fumble around between bites? She worried her lip. The more worried she became over friends and their situations, the more worried her lips became. The poor pink cupid's bow of her lip was going to be mangled soon if this kept up.

A small platter of some new food was set down with a gentle sound before Gajeel. It was the pretty barmaid. "Here you go! Natsu thought you might prefer these fried chicken strips. Sorry they took a little longer to get ready!"

Gajeel grunted, but allowed Lucy to guide his hand to the first piece of chicken. Watching him feed himself without mishap, Lucy felt relieved at least one of her worries was resolved. And by… Natsu? She studied him from the corner of her eye. From what she had observed, the man could be ridiculously ready to throw himself into the next action, able to strike up a bickering tirade with Gray over nothing, and at times almost unwilling to think before he spoke.

But there were moments when a quiet action spoke volumes, moments when she saw thoughtfulness, intelligence. Natsu must have felt her searching eyes, for his darted to the side to meet hers. And there they sat, both still facing forward, heads barely tilted to allow them to meet gazes in the corners of their eyes. Lucy couldn't help but acknowledge the angle of Natsu's chin very much showed his jawline to advantage. When she saw his lips quirk into a smirk, she forced herself to focus on his eyes. There was something in those dark eyes, something practically screaming that this man knew. She didn't know what it was he knew, but he _knew_ it, and she felt it was important.

And then the moment was broken when a burst of heat came from the table and distracted Lucy. She searched for the source, then stopped short. Was Natsu's food… on fire? Lucy felt the surprise all over her face, and heard Juvia's gasp.

"Is something burnin'?" Gajeel asked, pausing his eating.

Merfolk did not have or use fire themselves, but anyone who worked to help during the ship battles knew what it was, and knew that it hurt to touch. But where had the fire come from? Natsu didn't seem concerned, rather, he picked up his utensils and prepared to dig into the meal.

A blink of an eye later, and Lucy, Natsu, and his food were all very wet.

"Huh. Fire's gone," Gajeel commented, and went back to eating.

Spluttering and pulling wet bangs from her eyes, Lucy saw water had splashed diagonally across the table, originating from Juvia. It left a clear and very wet mark. Juvia's cup was knocked over. All that water could not have come from such a tiny cup, though, or even several of the cups, and none of the others were spilled.

"I am sorry!" Juvia exclaimed. "I don't know what happened! It was just that fire came from nowhere, and fire is so dangerous, and I did not want Lucy or our new friends to get burned, and suddenly there was water!"

Gray looked impressed. "Are you a mage?"

"What?"

Erza joined in as well. "Are you a water mage? That was pretty impressive."

"No, I-" Juvia looked confused at their questioning. Mermaids weren't mages, though they did have their own powers, in a way.

"Mira, did you see what Juvia just did?"

"That was so neat!"

Of course, it made a little sense, Lucy thought. Juvia had always been close, intimately close, with the water. It responded to her and her emotions back home in the ocean. It followed that her connection to water would still be a part of her, the same way Lucy's affinity with the night heavens was still part of her. That being acknowledged, it was different seeing water react to Juvia when the water wasn't the entirety of their surroundings. Watching water shoot from a cup and grow made it much more conspicuous than when an invisible current grew just a little stronger. She smiled. Lucy could understand why everyone was so impressed.

Juvia broke through the queries and remarks. "No, I'm not a mage. I'm just a mermaid."

"Not right now, you're not. You've got legs, and something ya need to do," Gajeel said. "Which is why we're here."

That took the smile from Lucy's face. Right. Time was precious. While they were sitting here eating, who knew what was happening back in their coves? Such horrible, tangible darkness spreading everywhere, eating merfolk up, swallowing their screams of terror. Lucy shuddered. How could she possibly eat? How could she do anything besides rushing to find a solution, a way to save the others?

"Right. You wanted to talk to Master Makarov," Gray remembered. "Let me go see if he's in his office."

"No, Gray, you finish eating," admonished the barmaid, Mira. "I'll go find Master for you. You can all speak to him when you're done. An empty stomach won't do you any good!" Erza went along with her.

Lucy didn't want to eat. Juvia had almost finished her meal, as had Gajeel. She was the only one who hadn't eaten.

"But my food is soggy!" complained Natsu, poking at the mess on his plate.

Gray snorted. "That's what you get for scaring people, pyro!"

"It tastes better on fire, snow cone." Natsu was salvaging what he could from his plate.

Fire. Food. Eating. What? Lucy gave up trying to make sense of the fire and food incident, and instead poked listlessly at her food. Would Makarov be able to help them? Would he be willing?

A hand darted in and snatched a small red item from her plate. "Well, if you're not going to eat them, I will!" Natsu declared as he popped it into his mouth.

The blonde was getting to the end of her rope, being in a new situation, with new people, and new food, and new fears, and new circumstances she needed to find courage for- and now this man who confused her was teasing her and eating her food? She angrily seized another of the red item and shoved it in her mouth, chomping down. And instantly, she smiled.

Looking at Natsu, she wanted desperately to ask him what these were, but was taken aback by the look in his eyes. It was back. She could tell, could feel, that Natsu had _known_ eating that particular item would cheer her. He knew, somehow, something even she hadn't known about herself.

"They're called raspberries," he said with a smile. "Good, aren't they?" And he took another.

Now that Lucy knew what they were, and how good they were, she was willing to fight for them. And fight she did.

"Natsu, leave her alone," Gray snapped. "You can get some more food when Mira comes back."

"No, then we'll have to go talk to Gramps," Natsu retorted, reaching out another hand. Lucy pushed it down onto the table with both of hers, triumphantly grinning, only to find he'd snaked his other arm behind her to grab two berries off her plate. To reach his mouth, he pulled his arm in closer, and his muscles had no problem moving Lucy snugly against Natsu. She didn't know if she was more irritated by his casual proximity, or the fact her berries were almost gone.

"Who said you're coming with us to chat with Makarov?" Gajeel demanded, sitting stiffly. There his untrusting instincts went again, pushing everyone back, even if they were trying to help.

Lucy's shoulders stiffened as she felt a tingling in the back of her mind, a familiar tingling. Something nostalgic and comforting and foreign, all at the same time. And then it stopped. She relaxed a little.

"Well, we've helped ya this far. Why wouldn't we help you with whatever ya need to do?" Natsu reasoned. Then, noticing Lucy petulantly hoarding the last of the berries, he smiled winsomely. "Tell you what, you share those berries with me, and we'll split the plate, and I'll buy you some more of those almonds later."

Now that was a proposition Lucy could live with! But would he try to "share" her almonds later? Seeing her distrustful look, Natsu pegged on, "And they would be only for you. No sharing. Unless ya wanted to." She gave him a look that clearly stated she would likely not want to share the almonds, then nodded in her agreement to the bargain. Before they could start eating again, however, the tingling presence returned.

"Wow. I never thought I'd see the day Natsu was putting moves on a gorgeous girl," came new, smooth voice from behind her. Lucy turned to see who it was.

When her eyes met the stranger's gaze, the feeling grew. It wasn't powerful, or overwhelming; it was soft, varying, like the lapping waves on the shore. But it was so familiar, unlike the face of the man before her. His russet hair was short, and his hazel eyes were partially hidden by blue shades. He was incredibly handsome, tall, lean, and with his confident, Lucy wouldn't be surprised if he were hiding some nice, understated muscles under his bulky clothing. Why did this unfamiliar face bring such a familiar presence?

Gray's snort ended her reverie. "Natsu wouldn't know how to put moves on a girl if his life depended on it. He probably doesn't even know he's got a girl in his arms right now."

Gajeel stiffened. "If you're talkin' about star girl, you'd better get yer hands off her right now."

"That's fine by me," Natsu said, retrieving his arms. "Easier to eat without working around someone." Lucy was offended he would be so unconcerned about all this. Her beauty was no small thing, and she knew there were plenty of sailors and other humans who would've paid dearly to hold her the way Natsu had. And he just lets her go for ease of eating?

"That's our Natsu for you," remarked the stranger still standing behind them. Lucy was beginning to think Natsu was an absolute blind idiot when she caught the smirk in his eyes. And then she realized he was playing a game, a game only he saw. She was distracted by a new arm draping across the back of her neck. "Well, beautiful, I haven't met you before. Are you fresh from the heavens?"

"The ocean, actually," Juvia replied honestly.

"Now shut up and get away from star girl," Gajeel ordered.

Lucy wasn't sure if she was more intrigued by Gajeel's protectiveness, the fact he knew it wasn't Natsu's arm around her anymore, Natsu's grin as he ate another raspberry, or that the man's arm seemed tense at Gajeel's remark.

"What? Oceans? Star girl?" asked the man behind Lucy.

"Hands off her."

"Ya know, you're missin' all the food, Lucy."

"Stop eating her food, Natsu!"

"Yes, ocean. We're mermaids."

"I'm not a mermaid!"

"But ya looked so nice in that dress!"

"Gajeel, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

"So help me, I'll kill ya for bringin' that up!"

"Please, calm yourself, Gajeel-"

"It's not his fault flame brain is more irritating than-"

"You wanna a piece of me, frostbite?"

"Leave Gray alone, please! He's just trying to help!"

"Why'd you throw a berry at my head?!"

"Because you're annoying!"

"If you're as grating to look at as it is listenin' to ya, I'm glad I can't see nothin'."

"Ya wanna start, too?"

"Please, sit down! Don't start to fight over the table!"

"How can you help us if you're always bein' stupid?"

"Lucy, did you really just grab the raspberries?"

"Leave star girl alone!"

"No one's touchin' her!"

"I am. I still have my arm around her."

"No need to shout, ya idiot, I'm blind, not deaf."

"Gajeel, sit down! You could get hurt!"

"See, Natsu? Even blind people can tell you're an idiot."

"And get your hands off of her!"

"That's it!" And before Lucy could quite fathom what was happening, she found herself lifted up and tossed into the stranger's arms, several red berries still in her hands, bag of almonds resting on her abdomen, and Natsu was flying across the table to punch Gray in the face. How did she get here?

"Well, I'll have to thank Natsu for the assist later," the man smiled. "Never thought he'd be my wingman."

Natsu? That was kind of sweet of him to get her to safety, along with her precious treasures. Of course, he didn't look quite as sweet at the moment, ducking a punch from Gray while simultaneously shooting out his right leg in a fierce kick.

"The name's Loke, by the way." He introduced himself casually, as if the fact he was holding a strange woman in his arms on the sidelines of a fist fight were an everyday occurrence. "From all the shouting, I gathered your name's Lucy. Is that right?"

The blonde just nodded. She watched as others from the guild got sucked into the brawl, turning it into a free for all. Lucy saw Juvia pulling on Gajeel's hand, trying to calm in. He clearly wanted to punch someone as well. And maybe it was just her imagination, but it looked like a few people were determined to best Natsu, and started to tag team him. A cup of frothing something went soaring across the room. Maybe Mavis had told them to come to the wrong guild after all. This was a complete and utter madhouse.

Loke just continued with his smooth talking, completely unfazed as he sidestepped another piece of flying table wear. "So, you want to go and get a drink later? I know a cozy little-"

But Loke didn't get to finish his question. With two people leaping at him and a chair sailing overhead, Natsu decided to pull a switch and evade the attacks. He lunged backwards, grabbed Lucy from Loke's arms and pushed the man forward while stepping to the side to avoid the chair, which crashed harmlessly on the floor where Loke had been holding Lucy only moments before. Loke, however, was not so lucky, as he received both the punch and kick meant for Natsu.

Seeing the look Loke was giving him, Natsu grinned at Lucy. "You might want to finish those berries, and hold on tight to the almonds. They probably won't make it through."

Lucy stuffed the berries in her mouth, ignoring Natsu's warm laugh. He wouldn't understand. Merfolk didn't have raspberries. She couldn't waste an opportunity to eat them while she was on land. Maybe they grew close to the shoreline, and she could have them even after she went back home?

Just as Loke adjusted his sleeves and prepared for battle, a large shadow fell over the entire room. Lucy froze in terror. Had the darkness followed them all the way here? Had Mavis been unable to do anything to stop it? She wrenched herself from Natsu's grasp and ran to Juvia and Gajeel, both still at the table. Both girls grabbed onto Gajeel's arms. They had to stick together, no matter what!

Tough Juvia was also afraid, it seemed no one else was deeply perturbed. Uncomfortable, frightened, perhaps a little. But not scared. Not like Lucy and Juvia. In fact, most of them kept on fighting.

"It's alright," Gajeel said, sensing their tenseness around him.

"Will you all just SHUT UP?!" came a loud bellow. The entire room froze. Lucy could see where the shadow came from now. It was a giant! Standing before the doorway, it blocked most of the light, creating an ominous silhouette. But it was shrinking now, getting smaller and smaller until its size and shape resembled a man. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. But the shrinking didn't stop there; it continued until there was a diminutive, old man, not even reaching Lucy's hips.

Mira came to stand before him. "There you are, Master! We've been looking for you!"

"I see Gray in the middle of that mess. I suppose Natsu is back as well?" the old man said, rubbing a hand on the bridge of his nose.

"They're both home, and they've brought some-"

"Natsu, did you really blow up that ship then come home and start a brawl? Are you trying to kill me?"

Natsu beamed from the sidelines. "Hey, Gramps! I'm not even in the fight. I'm just over here on the side!"

The whole guild gaped. Apparently Natsu was not often found on the fringes rather than the midst of the fray. Gray started shouting about how it was Natsu's fault this whole thing even happened.

"Now, now, don't be so petty. We've got important things to take care of," Natsu waved a hand to shoo off the complaints and accusations. "Look, Gramps. We've brought some friends home with us. They need our help."

"That's what I was trying to tell you, Master Makarov," Erza added,

Gramps, Master Makarov, turned to get a good look at the trio of merpeople turned human. His eyes lit up, and roved up and down when he saw Juvia and Lucy. "Of course! Anything to help out such lovely girls!"

Mira and Erza promptly rebuked their guild master, telling him to be polite.

"Is that old guy as perverted as he sounds?" Gajeel asked.

Juvia and Lucy looked at each other around Gajeel. This was the man they were to ask for help? A giant monster who shrunk into tiny elderly man with the expressive eyebrows, impressive mustache, and eyes too eager? This was the guild Mavis had started? THIS is how they were supposed to save their home?

"I do not think I understand what is happening here," Juvia stated simply.

Lucy grimaced. This was a disaster.

* * *

 **Dear Friends,**

 **I am aware that this is both late and perhaps a little rough. The reason is as follows: I need a beta! My sweet man does what he can, and helps me immensely, but the fact is that he has other obligations, like his job and stuff. And that makes it harder for me to get this turned around and ready to go up at a reasonable hour. Sheesh.**

 **If you want reports on how the story is going and the suchlike, you can check out my tumblr. I'll keep you guys posted from there should anything chaotic happen again. Which is might, since this is life.**

 **Anyway, my brother's wedding was fabulous. The groom was incredibly handsome (of course, since he's from the same gene pool as me, and I'm gorgeous), the bride was incredibly lovely (I spent all morning doing hair and makeup, but she was pretty to begin with), and there were an appropriately large number of tears shed by everyone's mothers. The ceremony was touching, and the reception had watermelon AND honeydew AND cantaloupe. Nothing gets much better than that. Oh. And cake. The cake was pretty good.**

 **In summary, updates will now go back to their normal time on Tuesdays, I'll find someone who can help me proof read, and life will continue being awesome.**

 **Thank you for the reviews, follows, and happinesses. It means a lot to me, and helps keep my motivation high. If I didn't respond to your review, feel free to berate my neglect by leaving another review stating my crimes!**

 **No mermaid factoid this week. I'm tired.**

 **Cheers!**

 **Anne-Marie**


	5. Chapter 5

**Friends, chapter one was reposted with major expansions on 09/28/15.**

* * *

Back in the merfolk coves Lucy lived in, Mavis was respected, honored as wise and powerful. They turned to her for guidance, for help. She was the one who had given them a new life, after all. Every mermaid and merman in the cove had been saved from death and, even worse than death, from becoming dark ones by Mavis Vermillion.

But being in the guild hall Mavis supposedly created in her lifetime, Lucy was wondering what the connection could possibly be. Had the guild done a complete turnaround after Mavis passed on the title of master to the next leader? Was this really what Mavis had wanted? These people were all insane, holding swords to people's throats over something called strawberry cake, punching and fighting even if there was no purpose, yelling and hollering, and bickering all over the place.

Lucy followed Natsu down the hall leading to Makarov's office. Natsu carried Juvia in Gray's place while the darker-haired man was attempting to gather all the clothing he'd lost during the brawl. Juvia moped about the switch in vehicles, something which amused Lucy. Her bluenette friend really was infatuated with Gray, and though she was downcast now, for the most part Juvia was smiling a lot more. And that made Lucy's heart lighter. At least someone was happy about being here on land with a bunch of crazy people. Unlike Gajeel, who still resented being led around by the hand as he shuffled his feet cautiously along. Oh, well. It's not like there was anything they could do about that for now. It was time to get to work on Mavis' instructions and ask Makarov for help.

"Well, now," Makarov said as he settled in his comfortable chair, "why don't we start at the beginning?" He looked around the semicircle of faces seated before his desk, settling his gaze on Natsu with a scowl. "And Natsu, don't think I'm overlooking the reports I've heard regarding the ships. We'll be talking later." Natsu's only response was to sink lower in his chair and cross his arms petulantly.

The door opened and Gray entered the office. Since there were no more chairs, he simply leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets. Juvia sighed, dreamy expression on her face. "So," Gray started, "did I miss out on flame for brains getting told off for being stupid?"

"Though the word 'stupid' wasn't mentioned, I'm impressed you knew that was the first thing-"

Juvia's excited response was cut off by Natsu leaping out of his seat and crashing shoulders with Gray. "You wanna go again, ice breath?"

"Nah, your stupid might rub off on me," Gray retorted, even though his words were contradicted by his actions, shoving his weight into Natsu's in an attempt to push the other man away.

"All my stupid came from you the one time you ever managed to land a hit on me!"

"And my stupid came from touching you in the first place!"

"Stop shoving my shoulder and giving me more stupid!"

"Get your stupid off my arm!"

The door banged open and both men were grabbed by their collars. A severe looking Erza Scarlett held them close to her dangerous person as she gave them a disapproving look. "You two wouldn't happen to be fighting again, would you?"

The two immediately shrugged from her grasp to throw their arms around each other's shoulders in a side hug. "Of course not!" they chorused together. Lucy had the feeling this happened often.

"Good. It wouldn't do to be fighting when there's work to be done," Erza declared, strolling forward towards Makarov's desk. Lucy noted the instant Erza's gaze left them, Natsu and Gray attempted to force the other into submission by making each other uncomfortable. It was amusing and irritating at the same time. Erza continued speaking without paying them any more mind. "Have we debriefed the situation, Master?"

Gajeel stood. "No. No way. We don't need more humans jumpin' in and makin' a mess. Those two boneheads are bad enough. We don't need more trouble."

Mira, with the same pleasant smile plastered on her face she'd had since Lucy first laid eyes on her, tilted her head and replied from her spot at Master Makarov's right hand. "You do not trust us to be able to help you?"

"I don't trust anyone," Gajeel grunted.

"Then why did you come here?"

Natsu popped a finger in his mouth, then rammed it into Gray's ear. Gray hollered, grabbing at his offended ear with one hand, and swinging a vicious punch with his other. Natsu barely dodged in time. Then the two were at it yet again, punching and insulting and making it very clear that this was no ordinary guild. Erza approached with a glower, ready to distribute discipline.

"I have no idea why were came here," Gajeel said with disgust at the scene he was hearing. "Just a big mistake."

Juvia's voice held hesitation. "I don't mean to doubt Mavis, but perhaps… Perhaps we misheard?"

Lucy wondered how all three of them could have misheard the same words; that hardly seemed likely.

Gray, Erza, and Natsu stopped their yelling. Mira and Makarov narrowed their eyes in intrigue.

"Did you just say 'Mavis'?" Makarov asked.

Lucy and Juvia looked at each other. If these people knew Mavis' name, this was the guild she founded after all. Lucy nodded in encouragement to her friend.

"Yes, Mavis is the one who sent us. She looks after all of us. She is the one who saved us, after all."

By the time Juvia was done speaking, Erza was standing, arms crossed, by Makarov's left side, and Natsu and Gray were leaning against seat backs. All were listening intently.

"How is it that you know Mavis? You say that she saved you. How is this possible? She lived many years ago," Erza mused.

"What do you mean she 'saved' you?" Gray asked.

"And you said she sent you. For what purpose?" Mira added in.

Makarov picked a square frame from his desk, looking at it for a moment before turning it to face the three merfolk. "Is this the same person who sent you?"

It was a likeness of Mavis, complete with enchantingly large eyes, playful smile, and gorgeous blonde hair. Lucy nodded. That was their same Mavis.

"Our first master, out swimming with mermaids," Natsu breathed in bafflement.

"I ain't a mermaid!" Gajeel shouted.

"Course you're not, you don't even have a tail!" Natsu rebutted. Lucy felt her face twist into disbelief and incredulity. That was hardly the point, was it? Gajeel couldn't be a mermaid since he wasn't a maid. Although, she had to concede, the lack of tail was also a problem.

Makarov sighed. "Children, please. Let us start at the beginning."

Since Lucy couldn't speak without physical consequences, and Gajeel couldn't speak without damaging potentially helpful relationships, Juvia had become the unofficial spokesperson for the group. She started with the great blackness threatening their home, and went forward. Fairy Tail listened to the story once through, silent, without any questions. Lucy was impressed. She hadn't thought these people capable of silence or seriousness.

After hearing the run through, Makarov thought for a moment. "You haven't explained your connection to Mavis. You told us she saved you, but even before she transformed you into humans and sent you to land, you were trying to find her for help. Why is it you knew her?"

"When I said she was the one who saved us, I wasn't referring to her giving us legs and getting us away from the danger," Juvia replied. "She has always been a part of our lives, and we help her in gratitude for what she has done."

"What does that mean?" Gray asked.

"That's beside the point," Gajeel interrupted. "You don't need the whole backstory just to help us. The important point is Mavis changed us and told us to find you for help, and go for the Trident. Fat lot of good those instructions have done us so far."

Lucy understood Gajeel's frustration, but really, his gruff behavior wasn't going to improve their situation any. She laid a hand on his arm, trying to convey her empathy and the need for him to remain calm. It didn't really do much good. She hadn't thought it would, but she had to try. Gajeel went on, "What was the point of telling us to get the Trident? We don't even know what this thing is, or where to go."

Mira tilted her head. "I think calling Levy would be a good idea, Master. She might know where to look for information about this thing."

"And what the heck is up with telling us to try scallops?" Gajeel carried on as if Mira hadn't spoken. He was on a real roll.

A momentary pause followed his question. Natsu echoed, "Scallops? As in food?"

Juvia looked over at her companions. "You heard that as well? I thought my mind was being affected by the transformation or some other circumstance. Did you hear her mention scallops, too?" Juvia directed the question to Lucy, and clutched her hands when Lucy nodded. "That doesn't make much sense. But I do have another clue that could help us in finding the Trident." Juvia lifted her right hand, and slowly uncurled her fingers, exposing a small clam in her palm. "Mavis gave this to me, remember? She said to follow the directions carefully. There has to be more in here."

"Have you tried opening it yet?" Erza questioned, still standing rigid and tall by the desk.

"No," Juvia shook her head. "We've been a bit overwhelmed, and I didn't want to lose anything important while we were travelling."

Erza nodded in approval. "That was a wise decision. Good thinking, Juvia."

Natsu, unlike Erza, was not in a formal upright position. Rather, he was leaning over Juvia's hand, eye close to the clam in inspection, then changing senses and giving it a big sniff. Lucy didn't know what to make of his actions. Who sniffed palms like that, whether or not said palm was holding a clam?

"It smells like fish," he muttered, straightening.

"Of course it does, ya numbskull! It came from the ocean!" shouted Gray the same time Gajeel scoffed and said "It's a clam. That's no great deduction."

Crossing his arms, Natsu huffed out, "I wasn't done! If you had bothered listening through till the end, you'd know it smells like fish _and chips_. The kind you get at a diner that isn't by the sea, but still does everything sea themed."

Lucy didn't know what fish and chips were, but she'd gathered that diners were places to eat here on land. She didn't wish to cast aspersions on the human who'd helped them so much, but his conclusion hardly seemed a logical one.

"Why would the clam from Mavis smell like a restaurant?" Mira asked, taking the words right from Lucy's mind.

"Why do raspberries make Lucy nostalgically happy?" Natsu countered. The rest of the group blinked, unsure of how this statement was connected. Or how Natsu would even know such a thing about Lucy in the first place. Lucy remembered the happy feeling she'd had while eating the delicious red berry, but she hadn't connected the nostalgic feelings to that happiness until Natsu had stated it.

Gray protested, but Natsu cut him off saying, "It's because neither of them are originally from the sea."

"Just because Lucy likes raspberries doesn't mean she's not from the sea," Mira said. "It just means she likes raspberries."

"We know Mavis isn't from the sea because she lived on land and founded our guild many years ago," Erza complied. "But that is hardly conclusive evidence against Lucy's claims to being a mermaid."

"I never said Lucy wasn't a mermaid," Natsu denied. "I only said that she wasn't always one."

"We SAW them coming out of the sea, Natsu. Remember? Last night, Hargeon, shoreline, bloody mermaids," Gray argued.

"I'm not a mermaid!" Gajeel interjected.

"You carried one out of water, helped get him to the inn afterwards. Any of this ringing bell for you?

"I ain't no stinkin' mermaid!" Gajeel spat out, standing yet again. He had developed a tendency for doing that when he was angry.

Lucy nodded emphatically in agreement with her friend. That was an insult not only to Gajeel, but to all mermaids. The two should not be confused again. She was too refined to be classed with Gajeel and other mermen. They were so rough compared to mermaids, rough and wild. But her self-esteem aggrandizement aside, Lucy was acutely aware of Natsu's statement. Once again, Natsu was proving himself smarter, more perceptive than his companions gave him credit for.

"How did you know that?" Juvia asked quietly, eyes wide. That shut everyone up sufficiently. Her question validated Natsu's theory, meant that he was right.

Natsu grinned, placing his hands behind his head. "The nose knows!" But Lucy knew it ran much deeper than a strangely overdeveloped olfactory sense, even if everyone in Fairy Tail accepted it at face value. Was his nose really that good? She studied him from her seat. For the first time, she noticed the bare arm exposed by his one-armed dark jacket. It was very muscular, very defined. As a mermaid, she was used to being the one admired, but that didn't mean she was blind. And she could definitely see that bicep.

Makarov, who had remained silent for most of the excitement, chose this moment to speak up. Lucy shook her head, welcoming the distraction. "Does this have something to do with Mavis, child?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, it does. Now can we get on with the clam and the clues already?" Gajeel demanded.

"After we hear about Mavis, if you don't mind," Makarov countered. "She is our first master, our founder, and we are very interested in her actions. Especially when she is generally invisible to those not bearing the emblem of our guild."

Gajeel sat down petulantly, long legs extended forward, torso slumped forward and arms crossed. What a big ninny he looked, pouting for not getting his way. Lucy gestured for Juvia to carry on and answer Makarov's question. Mavis wouldn't have sent them here if they weren't trustworthy.

"Well, to tell the truth, none of us are originally from the sea," Juvia started. She continued speaking despite the shocked noises from her audience. "Sometimes, when a person at sea is dying before their time, Mavis changes them into merfolk. If she doesn't, the person can either die or be taken by the dark ones. But as merfolk, we help Mavis in trying to save others, and we do our best to live the new life we've been given."

"Huh," Gray grunted. "So Natsu was actually right for once."

Lucy knew exactly where this was going. It was like clockwork with these two men: truce, cooperation, insults, louder insults, brawling, Erza reprimand, truce, repeat. They hardly needed that right now. Before anything could happen, Lucy leaned forward across Gajeel and grabbed Natsu's wrist. He paused, mouth open in preparation to retort such slander of his intelligence, and flicked his eyes between her own and her hand grasping his wrist. When his eyes met hers again, she gave an expression halfway between disapproval towards the constant bickering, and sympathy for being called stupid all the time. She knew very well she didn't like it when her intelligence was called into question. And as she stayed there, frozen for a moment with her weight pressing down on one hand, and her peacemaking attempt stretched out and clasping Natsu's wrist with the other hand, she just met his gaze. She was surprised when the confusion in his dark eyes blossomed into a warm, gloriously happy and, dare she say, _fond_ gleam.

"I don't know what's goin' on, since I can't see or nothin', but star girl'd better get the heck off of me right now," Gajeel said, shattering the connection between Lucy and Natsu. She released him as if stung by a jelly fish, and jolted back into her seat, back ramrod straight. Why had that look from Natsu spurred her heart into such a flutter?

Makarov cleared his throat. "As we were discussing before that interruption-" a pointed look at Gray and Natsu- "you were all transformed by Mavis. And now you help her to save others. Is that about right?"

Juvia nodded respectfully. "Yes, sir."

"Were you affected by disabilities during that transformation as well? Or were you perhaps merely restored to your original human forms by this reversal?" Makarov asked.

Lucy hadn't thought of that. Was she a mute before her new life? It wasn't something she'd ever thought about as a possibility. In fact, previous lives were hardly discussed among the merfolk as a general rule. It wasn't forbidden by Mavis; it was just something of an unspoken way of life for the merfolk. Perhaps it was because with no memories, there were also no feelings of regret or longing. There was nothing to miss because nothing was known, no people, no possessions, no anything. It was like you never even were human at all, only born a mermaid or merman in the first place.

Gajeel was the one who responded. "We wouldn't know, but I'm pretty sure that ain't the case."

"Why wouldn't you know about-?" Erza started.

"Look, can we just move on and figure out this Trident thing? We don't have loads of time to sit around and chat!"Gajeel grunted irritably.

Lucy and Juvia were in agreement there. No one wanted to open that uncomfortable discussion right now when there were so many other important matters, matters like the wellbeing of their entire home. Juvia expressed that agreement by starting to open the clam. "Why don't we see what's in this thing?"

After some work and passing the clam to a few different people, Erza used her sword to open the offending item. Lucy thought it was a miracle only the clam fell in two pieces, but then again, Erza had proven herself adept with her blade at the finite work. If the control she exhibited while threatening people and opening clams were any indication, Lucy could only imagine what she would be like in a real battle of swords. She found herself both wanting to see such skill, and wishing herself far away from the kind of danger that situation would probably entail.

Erza handed the opened clam back to Juvia. Inside of the clam, instead of a pearl or any clam meat, there was a finely folded paper no bigger than a thumbnail. Juvia pulled it out, and started to unfold it carefully. And kept unfolding, and kept unfolding, and kept unfolding, until the item was about a hand's width and as long as Lucy's forearm.

"Is that…" Gray trailed off.

"A pass-along takeout menu, the kind you can find stuck to your door despite how many 'No Soliciting' signs are posted?" Natsu grinned. "Because yes, that's exactly what it looks like to me."

"Can I see that?" Gray asked, moving forward. Juvia looked only too happy to oblige the one-man bicep boat, and handed it eagerly to him. "Thanks. It looks like it's for a place called Joe's Crab Shack." He looked up at the others. "Ever heard of it?"

Mira came forward to investigate as well. "I think the address here is for a place that is for sale because the owner is retiring. It's changed names a few times, but I think it's about to become the second location of 8 Island."

"You mean Yaji's place is expanding?" Makarov asked delightedly.

"Yes, I think he's planning on moving back here to Magnolia from Hargeon," Mira confirmed.

Gray looked at the pretty barmaid. "How do you know all of this stuff?"

Mira giggled, placing a graceful hand over her mouth. "Well, I am in charge of the guild's food and bar, you know. I do keep in touch with the other food and shop managers in the area. It's good for business!"

"Wow," Gray nodded, "who knew it would be helpful for some mermaids."

Lucy could hear Gajeel grinding his teeth and see his hands clenching. She sighed. This particular aggravation wasn't likely to disappear any time soon.

Holding it closer, Mira spoke up. "Hey, it looks like something's written on the top here." Peering down, she read aloud. "'Southwest corner, second to last booth, rear-facing seat, bottle with emblem, proceed with caution.'"

"So, it sounds like we go to this restaurant, sit in this seat, and look for something there that'll be the next clue," Natsu said.

"And try the scallops," Mira added. "It's circled here on the menu."

"Well, great, let's go. I'm starving!" And with that, Natsu burst out the door. Lucy could hear him all the way down the hall, shouting about some food and dinner time.

As Lucy contemplated the clue and instructions left for them by Mavis, she really couldn't help but think that Mavis and this guild called Fairy Tail really were connected. So far, other than a streak of insanity, she couldn't say how. But they were definitely connected.

* * *

 **Dear Friends,**

 **Hello again! It's been a while, and I apologize. I fixed chapter one (at least, it's more of what I wanted before I got too excited and posted it before it was really ready), and reposted that on Monday. I have my Sweetums back after a bout of work stole his attention from anything else, so that means that chapters will be coming more quickly again because I have someone to help me with editing. Huzzah!**

 **Mermaid Fun Fact: Aquamarine, a stone named for the Greek word for sea water, is called the gem of the sea. Legend holds that they are the treasures of mermaids, coming from their tears. It was said the stone could protect sailors, and as a charm, it was particularly potent when submersed in water, which is exactly when a sailor would need it! It's also March's birthstone.**

 **Well, I'm still looking for a betareader, or even just someone who'll help give a once over before I post. If I can't find one, I guess I'll just do my best, and you'll get what you get.**

 **Cheers!**

 **Anne-Marie**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Friendly reminder that the first chapter was redone, and if you haven't reread it yet, please do so. It'll help you make more sense of things.**

* * *

There was difficulty with their little group, difficulty in getting along, difficulty in making decisions, difficulty in getting anything done, and quite frankly, Lucy was bored. Natsu thought Gajeel should stay, since navigating him through the streets would slow them down. Gajeel insisted on going, since he was someone who actually had a connection with this quest. Gray agreed with Gajeel, though it could have been because he enjoyed disagreeing with Natsu in a way that even Erza wouldn't punish him for. Juvia wanted to agree with Gray because he was Gray, but she was torn due to her desire to defend Gajeel's right to come along. Erza, Mira, and Makarov were deciding who else in the guild would be good to have around for this quest to succeed. Names like Levy, Warren, Wendy, and Cana came up, meaning absolutely nothing to Lucy, who was still bored and becoming increasingly agitated.

Deciding that enough was enough, Lucy grabbed a chair from a nearby table and marched into the arguing circle by the door, intent on finishing such nonsense. She shoved Gajeel backwards into the chair after setting it behind him. Juvia was lifted from her seat and pushed into Gray's arms, Lucy not minding at all that she'd almost dropped her friend in the process. Gesturing to Gray to follow her lead, Lucy took Natsu's wrist, much the way he'd taken hers while coming to the guild hall, and marched out the door.

"I can hear ya leavin', ya know!" Gajeel said, rising. "I'm going too!"

"You'll just slow us down!" Natsu shouted back.

"And carryin' Juvia won't?"

Thankfully Mira stepped in at this point, since Lucy could see no counterargument to Gajeel's point. The pretty barmaid approached him, that ever-present smile still plastered on. "Why don't you let them go, and you help us with strategizing from here 'till they come back? Finding out more about the Trident is sure to help, don't you think?"

"Don't patronize me, I'm no brat," Gajeel snapped. Regardless, he stayed put for the time being, allowing the others to scramble off. Hopefully, he'd sit down again rather than try to move about freely and possibly hurt himself.

Lucy, being a rather clever mermaid, realized that she had no idea where their destination was. She peeked back at Natsu, a little self-conscious now that her burst of bossiness had abated and she was left being an uninformed expedition leader. Natsu, however, couldn't be more delighted with the situation. He had, after all, gotten his way despite Gajeel and Gray contradicting him. Now, he simply grabbed her wrist in return, pulling to slow her down. When they were side by side, he grinned, shifting his grip from tightly around her wrist to interlocking with her fingers.

"This way, Lucy!" Natsu declared, shooting off down the street and taking a hard right.

Lucy had no choice but to run to keep up with him, stumbling a bit when she tried casting a glance over her shoulder to see if Gray and Juvia were keeping pace with them when she heard Gray holler out in protest. Natsu didn't decrease the speed at all, and in fact appeared to be increasing it instead. Was he insane? What a sight the pair of them must be! He, with his brilliant grin and muscled arm flexed out behind him, she attached to said muscled arm, long blonde hair and silvery dress fluttering out behind her from their ridiculous sprint through the streets. However, Lucy couldn't help but notice the humans didn't acknowledge the two with much more than a look and a raised eyebrow, sometimes a complacent smile. Was this common behavior, then?

Just when Lucy's heart was about to explode from the long dash, Natsu came to an abrupt stop, causing Lucy to bump into him. She stayed there, leaning against his back as she gulped in greedy breaths. Why was running so much harder than swimming?

"Man, Gray is always so slow!" Natsu complained, searching the street they'd just run down.

Apparently, this man really was insane. Had he forgotten that Gray wasn't just out taking a casual stroll, but also carrying Juvia? It's not like he could maintain the ridiculous pace Natsu had set and still keep Juvia from bouncing right out of his arms. Though, come to think of it, Juvia would probably have a wonderful time trying to hold on to Gray if he were to start running. That might make it harder for Gray to breathe, and in turn, cause Juvia to worry. Then she'd hold on tighter still, trying to console him and ask him it was alright if he wasn't as fast as Natsu. Lucy wondered how Gray would respond to that one.

She straightened, lifting her head from Natsu's back and running her free hand through her hair. It was a mess of tangles. With a sigh, she raised her other hand to comb through the disaster, but paused when she only succeeded in placing Natsu's hand against her head.

"What? You want me to play with your hair, or something?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow.

A blush graced her visage. That wasn't what she had planned to do! She shook her hand vigorously to disentangle their fingers and toss his hand away, not looking up to meet his eyes. Instead, she started working through her locks, attempting to tidy it enough to plait it.

"I'm bored. Let me help." And then Natsu's fingers, very warm fingers, were sliding through her hair as well, slowly enough that when they snagged on tangles it didn't hurt, and patiently enough that tangles gave way shortly before his careful ministration. Lucy was surprised. He did this very well. Either he'd had long hair at some point, or he'd helped someone else. There was no way he would be this good without practicing on someone with a sensitive head like her own. Especially since he seemed to be a constant ball of motion and energy. It made the gentleness all the more a contrast.

When the snarls were out, she quickly divided her hair into five parts and wove the strands into an intricate plait. But reaching the end of her hair, Lucy realized she had nothing with which to secure it. Well, then. So much for her plan of keeping presentable while running about in the human world.

"Nah, that's not your best look," Natu said. He ran his fingers through her hair to undo the braid. "Here, hold this for me for a second." A blue silk ribbon was dropped onto her extended hand. Lucy inspected it as Natsu continued his ministrations, which felt lovely and soothed much of the pent up anxiety that had been forcing her muscles to tense up and give her a headache.

The ribbon was clean, but not new, and wound in a tight spiral. A very pretty shade of blue, a very pretty ribbon, and hardly something a man like Natsu seemed likely to possess. Lucy wondered where it came from, and why he'd had it on his person. She internally grumbled for the umpteenth time about not being able to use her voice. It really did make everything in life more difficult, not only in not being able to communicate, but also making her feel isolated. She was trapped alone with her thoughts, unable to speak or share or ask or vent or demand or anything. But she could see and move around on her own. That was something.

Natsu finished massaging her scalp and brushing out her hair, and started gathering the top half of her hair, pulling it to the right side in a ponytail. At that point, he grabbed the ribbon out from her and unfurled it with a snap, using it to tie her hair up. When he was finished, she reached up to feel it while she regarded her companion, standing there all proud, hands on his hips and smug expression on his face. Had he made the ribbon into a bow? She looked at him with a question on her face.

"This look suits ya," Natsu said with that grin of his, the grin that closed his eyes and became a beacon to others, welcoming them to smile along with him.

Lucy was spared the necessity of coming up with an appropriate facial response by Gray coming up to them at that point.

"Jeez, ash-head," Gray said, not quite wheezing, but clearly tired. "Try thinking before you go running off across the city. I'm carrying someone, you know. I can't sprint like this!"

Natsu snorted. "But it's good for ya. Look! You managed to keep your clothes on the entire way here!"

Lucy noted that Gray did indeed still have all of his clothing on his person. Apparently having his hands full of Juvia prevented him from stripping and abandoning clothing en route.

Juvia, still held tightly in his arms, clenched her arms around his neck, a chagrined look on her features. "I apologize, Gray! I am such a burden to you."

Gray noticeably quieted his labored breathing, and said, "Nah, it's all good. You're not that heavy."

"Ya getting' fat and out of shape, freeze-boy?" Natsu taunted.

"I know Gray is strong enough to carry me, I did not mean to imply you lacked the strength," Juvia reassured the offended man, then continued with a mournful voice. "But carrying me meant you could not strip, an activity that you so enjoy. I have kept you from an activity important to you, and I am very sorry."

The strangled noise in the back of Gray's throat made Lucy want to laugh out loud. While Natsu indulged in laughing obnoxiously, Lucy took deep breaths, fighting her smile and the urge to burst into painful noise. If she smiled, she was much more likely to laugh. She knew what would happen if she made a sound. She knew. But still… the look on Gray's face, compared to Juvia's sincere adoration… She wasn't going to be able to hold it in-

"Hey, Lucy, your face looks weird like that," Natsu commented, sticking his own face very close to take an inspection of her features.

And there went the desire to laugh and be jolly in a flash of light. Or sound, as it were. Natsu sure knew how to make a mermaid offended and irritated. She sighed, glaring at him and letting her bottom lip protrude into a pout. How rude of him to insult such a lovely mermaid.

"I did not mean to offend anyone," Juvia was busy insisting as Gray carried her into the restaurant's front door. Lucy imagined her friend had been apologizing to Gray since making her comment. That brought her smile back. Juvia was nothing if not sincere and over-the-top in her emotions. As Lucy made to follow the first pair inside, Natsu threw his arm around her shoulders.

"There's your real smile!" he proclaimed jovially. "You were having a hard time doing it right a minute ago."

He was insulting her wavering smile during her battle against laughter? What was his problem? It's not like she could just allow a bunch of sounds to go dancing past her lips without serious repercussions.

"Besides," Natsu went on, marching the two of them through the door, "if you're going to laugh, make sure it's worth it."

Lucy's anger froze, and she looked up him with wide eyes though he kept his face forward, moving along like he hadn't just done yet another thing to throw her for a loop. So, had he said something rude to upset her and keep her from laughing, knowing it would hurt her if she did? Or had he just been a numbskull who didn't know how to speak to others without insulting them? Why couldn't she figure this man out? Ever since he'd come floating into her life, a bloody body dying on a piece of a destroyed ship, he'd been a source of confusion, bafflement, and just a little bit of blushing. Whether or not she wanted to admit it, he could be sweet. And he was rather attractive. Especially that jawline she'd seen last night on the beach.

A raspy voice interrupted her thoughts. "So, a table for the two couples, eh? A double date?" It was an old woman, a very large old woman, wearing clothes that were entirely too small for her person. A short blue skirt, a tight white top that left too much not in the imagination, both bulging at the seams, and some long, skinny creature wrapped around her neck. Lucy had no idea what to make of the woman. Apparently, Natsu didn't either. He was too busy staring at her in horrified shock.

"Where'd you get those clothes?" he demanded in outraged shock. Lucy could agree with him that the clothes were a rather poor choice, but there was no reason to be rude about it.

The old woman merely fluffed the animal around her neck, and it moved, blinking its beady little eyes. Lucy blinked back. It wasn't uncommon back at home to have particular fashion tastes come and go. For a while, some merfolk decided it was trendy to wear companion eels as statements, not just keeping them at their sides for friendship. A live eel, a live land animal. What was the difference, really? Not that Lucy wanted to participate in either venture. She preferred to leave her alluring, graceful neck exposed, all the better for viewing and garnering the praise of bewitched males.

"My clothes, eh? They are nice, aren't they?" The old woman didn't seem bothered by Natsu's question, which was a relief to the rest of their group. If they were barred from the restaurant, they would have a hard time getting whatever they were supposed to find at that table. "I got these at a flea market over in Hargeon. A real deal, too."

"So, what about that table?" Gray interjected, done with the conversation. "Is it alright if we have a request?"

The woman grunted. "Sure, why not?" Juvia pulled out the menu from the clam, and started calculating which table it would be. Meanwhile, the older woman was investigating Lucy through her half-circle glasses. "You know, I'm the manager of this place, but I also rent apartments. If you're looking for a new place to live, I've got a nice place over on Strawberry Street. Good deal."

Lucy didn't know how to express that she was actually a mermaid only on land for a brief time to save her people before returning to the ocean without using any words, so she just smiled in response.

"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind!" Natsu said congenially, as if he hadn't blatantly questioned her fashion sense minutes before. "Look, they've found the table!" He started leading Lucy away, arm still around her shoulder. "Oh, and lady, we'll take some scallops!"

Dislodging Natsu's arm from her shoulder, Lucy rushed forward to the table Juvia was at. Maybe they could find the clue now and just get out of here. She was getting real sick of not being able to say anything, even when her entire being screamed for her to make some witty remark, or correct someone's snafu, or just get her thoughts out of her brain and out into the open. Maybe she just needed some time to adjust to land, her new situation, and her new body. Maybe what she really needed was something familiar. Nighttime and the stars couldn't come soon enough.

Gray and Juvia were poking about, looking at the décor surrounding the table. The establishment's theme was very nautical, like the original owner had wanted to be a pirate in his youth, but settled for smothering his environment in mariner memorabilia. Lucy slid into the booth across from Juvia, next to Gray. She wanted a break from Natsu for a while. Juvia could handle him for a short time.

Juvia flushed a little when Lucy took a seat by Gray, and Lucy thought she saw a flash of something in her eyes, but for the most part, Natsu was able to sit down by Juvia with no tremendous consequences.

"I was right again! It is a diner nowhere by the sea, but with a ridiculously sea-y sea theme!" Natsu crowed as he batted a hanging plushie sea creature from his face. Was it supposed to be a seahorse? And what was it doing, hanging down so low? It kept swinging back to hit Natsu's face. "Gah, Juvia, switch places with me! It won't hit you in the face! Stupid thing."

"Alright," Juvia agreed. Natsu pulled Juvia out of the booth, and quickly switched spots with her, depositing her safely down next to him. Now that she thought about it, Lucy realized both Natsu and Gray had exhibited some pretty nice muscle endurance and control while taking care of the three merfolk: carrying Juvia around, lifting Gajeel, supporting Lucy when she had a coughing fit. Not bad muscles at all.

" _Much_ better, thanks!" Natsu said from his new spot across from Gray. "So, what are we looking for exactly?"

"If we knew that, don't you think we'd have found it by now?" Gray asked incredulously.

"I don't know, since you're so dumb, you probably wouldn't be able to find it even if you knew what it was!"

"And you wouldn't be able to find it if it were right in front of you!"

"And you wouldn't be able to find it if it were talkin' to you!"

Lucy and Juvia let the childish fight continue while they searched around the booth. Since Gray and Natsu were on the inside, the girls couldn't poke around the decorations on the wall and ledge there, but they did check under the table, and the ledges behind them. While Juvia's head was under the table, and Lucy was on her knees to look through the various colored bottles adorning the ledge behind her, the manager approached them with a steaming platter.

"I see I was wrong," said the old woman. "I'd assumed the blue-haired girl was with the boy carrying her, and the blonde girl was with the boy who'd had his arm around her shoulders." She sniffed. "Completely wrong, then. Not sitting in the right spots."

"Huh?" Natsu asked, deeming it fit to take a break in his argument with Gray as both of them began eating.

"It turns out you're here with that handsome dark-haired boy, and the girls are here together." Natsu and Gray started choking on the scallops in their mouths. "Did you masquerade as different pairings outside because you were afraid of discovery?"

Gray thumped his chest so violently, Lucy was sure he'd bruise from it. "What are you talkin' about?"

The old woman didn't notice anything wrong with the two choking men, so merely answered the question. "You sit across from your date. That's how it's done. And you're sitting across from that Pinky over there."

That caused an instant outroar.

"I'm not dating that-"

"He's ugly and stupid, there's no way in-"

"Please keep your clothes on, sir. No shirts, no service."

"I'm gonna be sick just thinking about it-"

"That's disgusting! I'd never-"

"No pants, definitely no service. What kind of operation do you think I run here?"

"Yeah, keep your clothes on, your pervert!"

"I'm no pervert, you stinkin' idiot!"

"Thank you for putting your pants back on. Now your shirt, if you please."

"Juvia, we have to switch back right now!"

Gray didn't even bother asking Lucy, merely grabbing her arm and yanking her towards himself in an attempt to fix the condemning seating chart. She fell into his bare chest with a surprised noise that brought on a fierce round of painful hacks, her companions exclaiming in surprise and concern. The old woman just left.

"Make sure you pay at the front before you leave," she said as she walked away, rodent boa nodding in agreement.

"Lucy! Are you alright? Ah, man, I'm so sorry, Lucy!" Gray cried, tentatively patting her back as she clutched onto him, head nestled into the crook on his neck.

When the coughing was done, her taut muscles relaxed and she slid down a little. Natsu leaned over the table and pulled her torso away from Gray's, leaving her legs on Gray's lap, and her upper body reclined on the table supported in Natsu's arms. "You okay, Luce?" he asked very gently.

She opened her eyes slowly, wiping her chin and mouth with the napkin someone pressed into her hand. As expected, a bloody mess. Lucy released a deep breath, and just looked straight up, ignoring everything for a moment as she gathered herself into one piece after spewing so much energy by making such a tiny noise.

"Luce?" Natsu repeated.

But Lucy didn't respond. Above their heads, there it was. Her eyes had followed the cord from which the stuffed seahorse was suspended, followed it up to the beam spanning the room. And by the cord, up on that beam, there were several rum bottles. One was different. Clenching her core muscles, she brought herself into a seated position. She felt a little awkward, sitting on Gray's lap like that, but it was hardly her fault, was it? Natsu had leaned further across the table when she pulled herself up, hands still holding onto her shoulders. She shook him off, then braced herself with hands on Gray's shoulders.

When she started to stand, Gray's hands shot to her waist to steady her. "Whoa, now! What do you think you're doing?"

She ignored him. Clearly, she couldn't make any noise. Definitely no noise. She doubted whether anything would be worth that pain. No more noise until she was a mermaid again, she swore to herself, no matter how surprised she was.

Still wobbly when she stood, Lucy took Gray's hand from her waist and held it as she stepped onto the table. Gray stood with her, completely confused. "Did you find something up there, Lucy?"

Lucy lifted the tall, square bottle with the short neck from the middle of the display. It was green-brown, murky when she tried to look inside it.

"What is it, Lucy?" Juvia asked. Lucy thought her friend sounded almost…impatient. Wanting to soothe her, Lucy handed the bottle to Juvia, who showed the two men the mark on the bottle's cork. "Fairy Tail's guild mark," Juvia breathed out. "Just like the one on Gray's chest."

Lucy smiled. Juvia would compare it to something related to Gray. They had found the clue, it had been above their heads the whole time. They might not have found it if Gray and Natsu weren't so desperate to not be dating each other. How strangely life works out sometimes!

"Good job, Lucy!" Gray celebrated. "Now can you get down? Standing up like this is hurting my legs." She wasn't surprised, since he had to stand in an uncomfortable position to accommodate the table and bench in the booth. But, some instinct inside her told her to grab another of the bottles from the beam, the short, fat, very round red one. Not questioning the prompting, Lucy grabbed it, then stepped down onto the bench, kneeling to lower herself. Taking the first bottle back from Juvia, she hugged the two bottles to her chest, happy, relieved, and so thankful they had found what they needed.

"Well, c'mon!" Natsu egged. "Let's see it!"

Lucy passed the tall bottle off to him, watching him turn it over in his hands. "There's a message in this bottle," he told the group. "And it's very old, whatever it is."

"Don't humans put messages in bottles when they are stranded?" Juvia asked.

"Sometimes people do it just to send it out and see if anyone will answer," Gray said.

"Well, this message has gone unanswered for a really long time. If someone was stranded and sending for help, it's probably too late for them. Unless they built themselves a hut and lived off coconuts and berries for a really long time." Natsu's eyes grew a little glazed as he pictured the scenario. "So are we gonna open it, or what?"

Juvia took the bottle. "I think we should return and include Gajeel in this portion of the clue. We did leave him behind."

Natsu sighed, dissatisfied with having to put off action when he could be doing something now. "Alright, fine. But can we at least eat before we go back?"

Lucy eyed the now cold scallops forgotten on the table during all the excitement of who was sitting where. Mavis did say to try them. Gajeel could hardly fault them for following Mavis' instructions. They would go back after eating.

* * *

The return to the guild hall was much less exciting than the adventure to the restaurant. Lucy was incredibly grateful for that. This evening would mark the first full day since all the hullabaloo started, and Lucy wondered how many more chaotic runs through town she would have before she could return to the beautiful sea.

While the trip back was mellow, the guild hall itself was in a state of war. Lucy could hear the bellowing before they even opened the doors, and what she saw when they entered the building was worrisome. Gajeel stood over a petite bluenette, her prone form dwarfed by his massive frame. Two men, ready to leap in and attack, were crouched low before him.

"-you didn't play fair, and you know it!" shouted one of the men, orange hair pulled back into a ponytail. His face was twisted in anger.

Gajeel scoffed and replied with a sneer, "You're just sore the both of ya couldn't protect her from one blind merman on legs for the first time in his life."

"But you went after the smallest one, that's just cowardly!" cried the other, very large man. His hair confused Lucy, who thought it looked like the black tresses were attempting to become a sprouting plant. But thoughts of his hair left her mind when she processed what the man had just said. Gajeel had gone after one of the guild members?

Juvia voiced Lucy's panic. "Gajeel, what have you done?"

This wasn't good. This wasn't good no matter how Lucy looked at it. If Gajeel were attacking members, they'd be kicked out, and then there would be no one to help them find the Trident. And oh no, was that petite girl alright? She was just lying there in Gajeel's shadow, unmoving. Was she so badly hurt? Gajeel had a rough side, yes, but Lucy had never known him to do something like this.

And did Lucy hear someone counting?

"Four… three… two… ONE! Time's up, and I'm free!" shouted the girl on the floor, leaping up to her feet. "Stop your whining, you two. I'm fine! I'm out of prison now, so let's get back to it!" And then she darted off behind a pillar, followed by the two men.

Lucy and Juvia just stood there, panic and confusion written clearly on their faces. Was this going to be the chief set of emotions they'd feel while in this guild? Panic and confusion? What a sorry life.

Natsu, however, held no such negativity. He went shooting off into the fray of people, joining what seemed to be half the guild in running around. "I want to play, too! I love freeze and burn tag!"

A game? It was all a game of tag? Lucy understood the basic concept of the game tag, since merfolk played it all the time, with each other, fish, and the waves. But Lucy had never played dead during a game before.

"Gray? Could you explain what's happening, please?" Juvia asked as her courier set her down in a chair far from the madding crowd.

"Huh? Oh, the game? It's freeze and burn tag. If you get tagged, you have to freeze in place. If no one from your team taps you for thirty seconds, you have to drop to the floor and count down from a hundred before you can leave. That's the slow-burn part, because it's pure torture down there. You're just lying there, and you never know if someone is gonna stomp on you or something."

Just then a ball of flame came and hit Gray's chest, catching it on fire. Gray, however, was practiced in the art of shedding clothing, and the shirt went flying off to the left while Gray went darting off to the right. "Alright, fire-breath, you're asking for it!"

Gray punched at Natsu, who blocked it with a forearm and a loud laugh. He quickly turned serious, however, when he muttered something Lucy couldn't hear from her distance. Gray merely responding with another fist, this time with a mist around it. What was up with those two? Lucy figured maybe it had something to do with their magics. They hadn't talked about it at all, since they'd been so focused on other things. But this was a wizard's guild. It only stood to reason both of those men would have magic.

Juvia called some water from a cup on a nearby table to douse the smoldering shirt on the floor, then went back to watching Gray. Lucy pulled a chair next to her friend and sat down. Who knew how long this was going to take.

"Say, Lucy?" Juvia said, still facing forward.

Lucy nodded to show she was listening.

"Are you interested in Gray?"

Lucy thought Juvia was joking, but she wasn't. She could tell by the set look on her face. Trying to reassure the bluenette, Lucy shook her head emphatically.

"Good. Because he is mine." Her voice took on a dangerous edge, and she turned to look Lucy right in the eyes. "And I will fight for him."

Lucy nodded her understanding, and both girls turned forward again.

"I'm glad we understand each other, and we can remain friends rather than love rivals."

Another nod from Lucy. Juvia had always been an emotional one, but she'd never seen her be so protective. Jealous, even.

The tenseness was broken by Mira joining the two of them. "I suppose it's never really a game of freeze and burn tag until Natsu and Gray get in there," she commented.

"Why is that?" Juvia questioned.

Mira looked down at them. "Oh, haven't you seen their magic yet?"

The mermaids didn't need to ask, because across the room they heard an enraged shout. "That's it!" Gray hollered. He slammed his right fist into his open left palm. Glowing mist started gathering around his hands. "Ice Make: Hammer!" And there was suddenly a hammer in his hands, a huge hammer.

Natsu leapt forward, raising his fist for a punch. Was he mad trying to punch that solid, mean-looking hammer? "Fire Dragon Iron Fist!" And then Natsu's fist was on fire, and Lucy didn't know whether she was more surprised at that or the fact he was fist fighting with a hammer.

"That's why!" Mira said with a giggle as they continued to watch. "Gray is a very skilled ice maker mage, and Natsu is a-"

Mira was cut off by a flying chair which knocked her over. "Oh, it's always so fun around here, isn't it?" she mumbled out right before losing consciousness.

Lucy got the impression this wasn't the first time Mira had fallen victim to flying furniture, but she slid out of her chair anyway and knelt down, lifting Mira's head onto her lap, ready to protect her from any further misadventure. She watched the guild members, and one blind merman stumbling about on new legs, and felt something new in her chest. For the first time, instead of irritation, confusion, or the desire to leave, Lucy felt a little amused and just a tinge of longing. Sure these people were fighting -whether or not it had started as a game it was now a fight in Lucy's eyes, because what else could you call what Gray and Natsu were doing- but they weren't enemies. These people were companions, friends. They had a bond. The kind of bond Lucy wanted in her life. It seemed so beautiful.

When a plate of something squishy hit her face, the happy, sentimental thoughts vanished. Lucy decided this guild was chaotic nonsense after all.

* * *

 **Dear Friends,**

 **I would like to thank kitkattnanja, who has volunteered as a beta for this story. What a swell person! No matter how good an editor you may be, you'll never catch all of your own mistakes. It makes a big difference to have another set of eyes and brain to help out.**

 **Speaking of editing, since my own editing job schedule has changed recently, so has my projected posting schedule. Until I get into my new groove, I can't say for sure whether Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays will become the new steady. Hopefully, things will smooth out soon. Regardless, you'll still get at least one chapter a week, especially now that I'm not trying to do everything on my own.**

 **Also… not to be a dreadful bother, but really… I would appreciate a review or two. I'm really aiming to entertain and improve my writing, and I don't know how I'm doing if I don't get any feedback. Even something simple like "Buy a dictionary," or "I am thrilled at your usage of semicolons," or "Me. Like. Ugh." You know. Feedback. Of course, I would like to know what's wrong/could use fixing, or what you liked, but anything will do at this point.**

 **Alright. Begging over. Have a fabulous day!**

 **Cheers!**

 **Anne-Marie**


	7. Chapter 7

Even once the game of tag had subsided, not all heightened feelings died out. Jet and Droy, the two men who had been in a yelling match with Gajeel when Lucy and the others who had returned, were still sore over being unable to "protect" their dainty friend, whose name was Levy. Gajeel couldn't stop himself from making jabs towards their "uselessness" and riling up hard feelings. Meanwhile, Gray and Natsu were still attempting to murder each other, strategically working together to move their fight around the room to keep away from Erza and Mira. Juvia cheered for Gray from her seat next to Lucy, who just sat there, holding the two bottles retrieved from the seafood diner not that long ago, yet already forgotten.

Lucy decided that all boys were stupid, regardless of their species, and stood up, face clearly displaying her opinion of the current situation. She made her way over to the table where Levy was sitting and sorting through some large books. Books had always fascinated Lucy, who had seen them on ships from time to time. Knowledge and stories captured in characters made of dark liquid on a thin sheaf, communication of thoughts and memories and ideas all in a magical item called a book. Lucy regretted that she hadn't had much of a chance to explore this fascinating object, but they didn't hold up very well underwater. They had a nasty habit of disintegrating rather quickly.

Levy looked up at Lucy when she stopped at her table, smiling. "You're Lucy, right? I'm Levy McGarden. It's nice to meet you!"

Nodding with a returning smile, Lucy gestured at the books. Levy thought for a moment, then asked, "Are you asking what the books are about?" When Lucy gestured affirmatively, Levy went on. "These books are on the Trident, its lore and history. Hopefully, we'll be able to find out something about it to give us an idea of where and what it might be, and how to use it once we've found it."

That sounded like an intelligent course of action to Lucy. She timidly reached out a hand towards the closest book, raising a questioning brow at Levy. The other girl responded by pushing it towards her and opening the cover. "Feel free to look through any of them that you like. I'd heard you can't talk. That must be hard. Can you write? I have ink and paper here you could use."

Thinking for a moment, Lucy thought to give it a try. Merfolk didn't often write, since there was no paper beneath the waves, but they did on occasion find the use of squid ink and rocks or shells to write out important things. Lucy didn't know if they used the same writing characters, but it was worth a try. They were speaking the same language, right? So she accepted the writing implements from Levy, and gently dipped the pen in the ink, being careful not to spill. When she wrote out her name on the paper, she checked with Levy to see if the girl could read it.

"'Lucy'? Did you write your name?" Levy asked. Apparently, it wasn't very readable after all. Lucy sighed in disappointment. Her hopes had soared at the chance for communication again, and she felt miserable at the crushed optimism.

A warm presence hovered over her left shoulder, inspecting her handiwork. "That's some awful chicken scratch there, Lucy. Did you do that?" Natsu asked. Lucy gave him a blank expression, unsure of what 'chicken scratch' was. He elaborated, saying, "Ya know, awful handwriting? Messy? Ugly? Unreadable?"

Instead of being unsure, Lucy was now too sure of Natsu's meaning, as well as the fact that his string of insults made her want to whack him over the head. How rude could someone be?

"Actually, Natsu's right for once," Gray commented, adding his two seashells from Lucy's other shoulder. "That is some messy writing."

Now Lucy wanted to whack Gray, too. Of all things for these two to agree on! These two men claimed to be nothing alike and were constantly bickering and punching each other, but when it came down to it, they were incredibly similar.

"Hey! I was right about a lot of things today!" Natsu protested.

"But not about this," Levy butted in. She held up Lucy's paper, pointing to the writing. "This is actually a different alphabet than we use, and the characters are pretty well-formed, easily allowing me to read her name. The only reason I questioned whether it was right was that I was unsure if I were using the correct language to read what she'd written. There are several languages that use this alphabet, but not always in the same manner. It either said 'Lucy,' 'light,' 'starfish,' 'papaya,' or 'lantern.' I assumed it was her name."

Lucy was ready to hug Levy. She grabbed the paper back, and hastily wrote out a note, then shoved it towards Levy and waited for a response.

"Yes, I can read your writing perfectly. I'm fluent in several languages, so it's no problem."

And then Lucy did hug Levy, barely repressing a sob of relief. She didn't have to keep everything inside anymore. If she had something to say, Levy could help her. She didn't have to be so alone anymore. Levy hesitated for a moment, but then returned the embrace. Lucy thought about asking Levy to teach her about this land's alphabet and books, about keeping a friendship with this girl even after she got her tail back and returned home.

Gajeel interrupted the pleasant stream of thoughts by shouting from across the room, "What the heck is a papaya?"

The girls separated, and Lucy looked to Levy for an answer. The little blunette's brown eyes narrowed at Gajeel. "How did he hear from all the way over there?"

Lucy didn't have the answer to that either. Gajeel had always had good hearing, but this was different. They had been speaking quietly at a sizable distance from Gajeel in the midst of a noisy guild. Lucy shrugged aside that question in interest of getting an answer to Gajeel's. She nudged Levy in an attempt to get an answer.

"Oh. A papaya is a type of tropical fruit."

"That doesn't make any sense. What does that have to do with star girl?" Gajeel demanded.

Levy stood up and slammed her hands on the table, shouting back to Gajeel, "Why don't you come over here if you want to be a part of the conversation?"

Gajeel in response jabbed a thumb towards his bandaged eyes. "In case ya haven't noticed, I'm blind! How am I s'posed to get around, huh?"

Straightening and placing hands on hips, Levy leaned forward and retorted, "It didn't to seem to bother you all that much when we were playing tag just now. You singled me out easily!"

"And tagged ya, too," Gajeel boasted, a smirk on his face. Lucy was glad to see a smile from him again.

"In that case, you should have no problem getting over here on your own," Levy taunted, returning to her original position.

Knowing her friend, Lucy saw the slightest hesitation before he took his first step. Lucy wasn't going to let him blunder over here, tripping and embarrassing himself, only to have bruised feelings and an incensed temper. That wouldn't help anything. Instead of allowing such a negative outcome, she flitted over to his side, putting a hand on his arm. He gave only a grunt in response. To disguise the fact that she'd come to help, Lucy put the tall green bottle, the one with the clue, in Gajeel's hand.

"Ya found somethin' at the place?" Gajeel felt the bottle up and down, then lifted it to his face and gave it a sniff. After a moment, he muttered, "This thing is really old."

Back at the table she'd just left, Natsu hollered, "That's what I said, too!"

How did these two do that? Hearing quiet conversations across rooms? At least neither of them could hear her thoughts. Lucy paused. Would that be helpful, or would it be a problem? She wondered… But she could think more about that less than likely possibility later. For now, she had someone who could help her communicate, and a clue in a bottle to open up. She pulled on Gajeel's arm to take him back to the others. Now she just needed to have someone fetch Juvia, and they would be ready to open the- Oh, Loke was moving towards Juvia already. That was nice.

All three merfolk reached the table at the same time. Lucy placed herself between Juvia and Gajeel, Loke standing behind the three of them, and across from Levy, Jet and Droy standing at either shoulder. Natsu and Gray stood at the right side of the table, arms folded. They all wore serious expressions, serious and curious.

The cork on the bottle was wedged in tightly, but Gajeel simply put in in his mouth and yanked it out, cork stuck to his sharp fang. He placed the opened bottle on the table, and spat the cork out behind him. "Someone tell me what's in this thing."

Mira approached the table, cork in hand, smile in place, and said, "Spit on my floor again, and suffer the consequences." Lucy felt like that was a sincere threat, but before she could become too afraid, Mira continued. "I'll send Erza over."

"Dude, you almost made her cry!" Gray admonished Gajeel as Mira walked away.

"Yeah, and usually only Gray manages that, the idiot," Natsu added.

Expecting yet another quarrel, Lucy grabbed the bottle and extracted a tightly rolled scroll. It felt thick, and old. Juvia held on to one side while Lucy gently unrolled the material to reveal depictions and scrawled inscriptions. Levy leaned over the map to get a better look, being short enough that most of her body seemed to be on the table. Lucy thought her new friend was cute, and she could tell Jet and Droy definitely agreed with her by the appreciative looks they continuously sent her way. She wondered if the two ever fought with each other over Levy's affections; they appeared pretty united standing against Gajeel earlier.

Natsu, face stretched out by Gray, who was intent on discovering how elastic Natsu's features were and if they had a breaking point, took a moment to glance down at the opened relic. "Ish thath a treashure mapth?"

Even if the corner of his mouth was being yanked to an awkward angle, forcing his tongue and lips into ungraceful pronunciation, Lucy was unimpressed with Natsu's delivery. She condescended to give him a disapproving look before returning her gaze to outlines of shorelines and towns and bodies of water. It did look like a map.

"It does look like a pirate map," Jet commented.

Droy agreed. "The kind you hear about in stories."

"Natsu, please don't do that to Gray's face," Juvia asked politely, nervously observing Natsu push the corners of Gray's eyes out until they were squinted shut.

"Why?" Natsu asked clearly, having shaken mostly from Gray's grip. "I'm just tryin' to fix his droopy eyes."

"There's nothing wrong with Gray's eyes!" Juvia exclaimed, her eyes blazing. Her need to defend Gray was on prominent display this evening.

Levy tapped the map pensively. "This map is inked onto old leather, very well done, too. The writing is in the same language Lucy uses, easy to read and make out. For being so old, it's in remarkably good shape."

Erza approached the table at this point. "So what is the map of? Does it say what we are looking for?"

"These notes along the side here are instructions, warnings, and tips, almost like a user's guide to the map. From what I've gathered from my earlier research and this map, I'm thinking that the Trident has been broken into four separate pieces and hidden at the various locations marked on this map. See these four 'x' marks?" Levy pointed to the four points. They weren't very close together, some being further inland, one even out in the ocean.

Lucy felt deflated. Every time they received new information, their mission only got bigger and harder. How discouraging. But she determined to not let her loss of heart be known to her friends, and instead be a bolster of hope lest all three of them be overwhelmed. Too bad just thinking about finding bits of an unknown object by travelling across an unknown world facing unknown obstacles racing against an unknown clock to save their very known and missed home all made Lucy want to curl up and shut her eyes against the world. Lucy didn't close her eyes, though. She forced her back straighter, and put on one of her best smiles. No one would know how down she felt.

A hand settled on Lucy's shoulder. "Don't let it get you down, beautiful." Lucy looked up to see Loke smiling at her. Huh? Hadn't she just decided no one would know how down she felt? How had he known? He had a nice smile. It didn't have the suave, intentionally seductive undertones his earlier smiles possessed; rather, it was just an innocent, friendly, warm smile. Lucy felt lighter.

An elbow rested on Lucy's other shoulder. "Say, Luce, ya feelin' alright? You're lookin' peaky." Natsu stuck his face in close to hers. This human really had no concept of personal space. However, instead of following her movements to maintain the same distance between them as he tended to do, when Lucy scrunched her nose and backed away, Natsu merely straightened into a relaxed forward-facing posture. His elbow still rested on her shoulder, leaving him hunched over with a good view of the map. Loke still had his comforting hand on her right shoulder.

How was she supposed to concentrate on Gray and Erza commenting on the various locations and how long it would take them to reach all of the pieces? What had felt like a familiar tingle a few hours ago had now returned, and instead of being a little feeling, was a warm sensation that filled her down to her toes. The only real word to describe it was it felt like light. She couldn't help but lean back into that light and warmth and familiarity, closing her eyes in a sense of tranquility.

"But what do we know of the Trident itself?" Erza was asking. "Is it something we can bring on the train with us after we collect the pieces, or will we need other accommodations?"

"Well," Levy began, pulling one of the open books towards herself, "from what I've found, it really is what it sounds like: a trident. However, the lore behind it is fascinating-"

Natsu tapped the map by pushing Lucy's body forward enough to be able to reach it without removing his elbow from her shoulder. "What I wanna know is why we're sittin' here gabbing when we could be getting this first one right here. I mean, look. It's right here."

"Just because it's in the lake doesn't mean we can just march out there without knowing anything," Erza reprimanded.

"Ya mean the water close to here? It's in there?" Gajeel jumped in. The group around the table looked at him, perplexed. He was blind; how could he know about the lake?

Levy, peeved at being interrupted, answered, "Yes, it's right there, but we were talking about the background information you need to know-"

"Let's just talk on the way," Gajeel cut in.

"Now _that's_ what I'm talkin' about!" Natsu agreed excitedly.

Gray held his hands up. "Not to be a big party pooper, but the sun in close to setting. It'll be dark soon."

"How'm I s'posed to know that?" demanded Gajeel. "I'm blind, remember?"

"Then how the heck did you know about the lake being out there?" Droy asked incredulously.

"How could'ja miss it? It's obvious there's lots of water there," Gajeel returned.

Juvia slid into the little debate. "We know a little about water, you know. We're also very eager to finish our mission as soon as possible to save our home. Is there any way to go now?"

Lucy was grateful Juvia was so much more diplomatic than Gajeel; it certainly smoothed out their relationship with the guild they were clearly going to need during their journey. They had no way of navigating by themselves up here in the human world. They would need assistance to be able to go quickly enough to make a difference for those back in the terror of the darkness.

"Ah, c'mon, guys!" Natsu coaxed. "The sun isn't setting yet, and Levy can explain stuff while we're there. There's no real harm in going out now. And if we don't find it today, we just come back tomorrow!"

Juvia and Lucy nodded in agreement, sending pleading looks to the others. When there was no immediate response, Lucy grabbed Natsu's elbow and began to shake it, wanting him to take them if no one else would.

"Loke! A request came in for you!" called out a voice.

The warm hand left her shoulder as Loke responded to the call, and Natsu straightened a moment later. Lucy thought she saw his gaze trail after Loke for a moment, but her determination was focused on getting to the lake as soon as possible.

"Alright! Time to go!" Natsu declared, turning back to the group. "Juvia, you wanna come or stay?"

"Why would I want to stay?"

"Are you offering to carry her?" Gray asked at the same time Juvia derided Natsu's idiotic question. Juvia looked momentarily horrified, putting her hands over her mouth. Clearly, this was not in line with Juvia's wishes.

Natsu sent his rival a mischievous grin. "You jealous?"

Before Gray could give a response, Juvia emitted a small squeak of pleasure and blushed prettily, her negative feelings of only moments before instantaneously erased with the lovely thought of Gray's intense jealousy. Lucy sighed.

"Can ya humans stop bein' stupid for a few minutes so we can get outta here?" Gajeel asked, standing quickly enough to push back his chair with a clatter.

Lucy agreed, though she rose with much more poise than her friend. Natsu added his enthusiasm for the expedition by pulling out Juvia's chair far enough for him to get his arms under her legs and around her back. He scooped her up and ran for a hallway, shouting out, "C'mon, Juvia! Let's get Gray jealous together!"

There was a brief pause at the table. Levy put a hand over her face, Jet and Droy were unimpressed. Gray just looked ticked off, though because it was Natsu involved or because he actually wanted to carry Juvia himself remained a mystery to Lucy.

"Does he even know what that sounded like?" Gray scoffed.

"Probably not; he's Natsu," Levy said.

Erza turned to Levy, asking, "What did it sound like?"

Another brief pause. Gajeel was the one to break it this time. "Are ya kiddin' me? What do ya humans always go after mermaids for? Crazy humans go after 'em for their big eyes and bigger b-"

Lucy smacked Gajeel to get him to shut up, blushing. It was one thing to be admired from afar, another thing entirely to have everyone in a close proximity inspecting the body parts Gajeel blatantly pointed out. She wasn't the only one blushing, however: it seemed Erza was quite a bashful creature when it came to physicality. Lucy couldn't help but feel grateful for the blushing companion, because she already felt like she was standing out enough. Deciding enough was enough, Lucy took Gajeel's hand to lead him.

"Don't see why ya had to smack me. I was just tellin' it like it is," Gajeel muttered. Lucy ignored him, and instead gestured to Levy and her book, motioning for her to continue her explanation, and to Gray and the map, indicating he should lead the way. All party members acquiesced, and they followed the path Natsu and Juvia had taken.

"The Trident is from the lore of the Sea King. He had a trident made of gold and brass and infused with magic, his own magic. He used it to amplify his powers, control the ocean, and protect his kingdom from the dangers in the deepest waters." Levy paused a moment. "I hadn't thought of merfolk living in danger, but I guess there are sharks and such down there."

"Sharks aren't even the worst of it, pipsqueak," Gajeel informed her. Levy protested, while Lucy smiled. Levy was small. Gajeel could even tell that when he was blind.

They were now exiting the guild through a rear door, and Lucy could see the giant lake spread out before them. It was wonderful to see so much water again, even if it lacked the salty smell of home. She checked the position of the sun, and while it was getting closer to sunset, it wasn't there yet, so they had a little time to look around, depending on how long it took to reach the mark on the map. Knowing the way Natsu ran, he and Juvia were probably already there, with him complaining about how slow Gray was while Juvia defended Gray's speed and general abilities.

Gray pointed off to the right, a heavily wooded area. "The map pinpoints a location over that way, off the shore with the tall rocks."

The group continued on their way, and a disgruntled Levy continued on with her narrative. "Anyway, the Sea King grew tired in old age, but could find no one worthy to wield his powerful Trident. In the wrong hands, it could cause mayhem on land and at sea because of the ability to control the water and certain weather patterns. So to prevent potential destruction, the Sea King broke the Trident into four pieces and hid them."

Lucy thought about the facts she'd just heard. So this Trident they were after was clearly important. She hadn't heard of it before, but she had heard of the Sea King whose beautiful palace still stood in the center of their merfolk city. And, since Mavis had sent them for this Trident, it was crucial to their freeing their home and fellow merfolk. But that's where Lucy became a little lost. How was controlling the water and weather going to push back the darkness and the barriers?

Gajeel apparently had the same thought process. "And why would we want to be changin' the weather when we've got dark ones to contend with?"

"Dark ones?" Jet repeated.

"What are those?" Droy asked.

"I think you're underestimating the power of ocean and weather control," Levy sniffed. "But there is another facet to the Trident. It also has an even more powerful hidden ability. All of the accounts agree on that fact. It's just no one knows what it is."

Droy repeated his question as Gajeel grumbled at "yet another useless answer." Seeing that Gajeel was too busy muttering, and that Lucy clearly wasn't going to be answering any questions anytime, Gray piped up. "From what I could tell of their story, dark ones are more or less the mermaid version of zombies."

Droy fumbled in his steps. He looked displeased with the answer he'd received. Lucy wondered what a zombie was, and how it being related to mermaids might make it worse than its normal incarnation.

"So we need to gather the pieces, and then assemble this Trident," Erza summed up. "We can work to that point, then go from there."

That sounded like as good a plan as any to Lucy. It meant they would be _doing_ something, and that fact alone was enough to soothe some of the anguishing impatience gnawing at her innards. As they walked around another grouping of trees, Natsu's voice came floating back towards them.

"Ah, man, he's so slow! And he's not even carrying anyone this time!" Natsu moaned. Lucy smiled, hearing her predictions come true being rather satisfying. She could even picture him placing his hands behind his head, slightly leaning back with that little pout of his.

"But he is in a group with Gajeel, who can't run madly through so many obstacles," Juvia protested. Lucy suppressed the urge to laugh. Yes, it did indeed feel glorious to be right.

"Oi! Ya nasty little lizard, ya know we're right here!" Gajeel hollered.

Natsu laughed. "Course I do!"

The group of guild members didn't seem as surprised at Natsu's declaration as they were at Gajeel's knowing that Natsu knew. Quite frankly, Lucy was surprised at anybody knowing anything at this point. So what if Gajeel and Natsu knew where each other were? What did that matter? Determined to move past their masculine idiocy driven urge to one-up each other, Lucy broke through the trees to come to the shoreline. It was beautiful, the land turning rocky and jutting out over the water. If she sat on the edge, Lucy thought she could probably reach the water with her toes.

"Be mindful," Erza cautioned. "The water here is deep, so don't jump in unawares."

Natsu had seated Juvia at the base of a tree, where her pale features and dark blue hair contrasted nicely with the rich browns and greens behind her. Lucy thought her friend looked fetching, and nodded with approval. Mermaids preferred to place themselves to their greatest advantage whenever above the surface, and even if in a forest by a lake rather than in the middle of the ocean, that principle rang true. Mermaids liked to look and feel beautiful.

To the right of Juvia, Natsu himself was standing with his back against the tree, arms behind his head and one foot propped up against the bark at knee height. "Took you long enough. Juvia didn't want to start without you, and it got boring."

Lucy moved to her friend, dress fluttering as she walked. This dress was really growing on her, even if she didn't really know how she felt about legs yet.

"This is the spot on the map, right about here and just off the shore," Gray said, consulting the map once more.

Levy did a double-take at the bottom corner of the map, where there was some writing in smaller print. "It's a good thing Juvia waited, Natsu. It says here you need at least two merfolk in order to retrieve any portion of the Trident from its hiding place." Levy looked troubled. "Huh. I didn't see that before we left."

"That's okay, Levy!" Jet comforted.

"Yeah, you're still the best!" Droy agreed.

Levy smiled over her shoulder at her friends turned cheering squad. "Thanks, you guys."

"Enough mush. Let's do this. In ya get."

The group looked at Gajeel blankly in response to his commands. Not hearing any movement, he extended a hand and snapped out, "Star girl. Get her in."

Still no movement, mostly because Lucy wasn't strong enough to lift Juvia without the chance of accidentally dropping or hurting her feet somehow. Juvia added her request, "Could someone get me to the water, please?"

"You want me to lower you down?" Erza asked, looking over the ledge and thinking of the best way to negotiate the drop without bumping Juvia's feet.

"Someone just throw her in!" Gajeel said.

"What, like this?" Natsu asked, scooping Juvia up and tossing her over the ledge into the water in one motion. Lucy was impressed with how far out Juvia went before hitting the water, considering Natsu wasn't even at the ledge when he'd thrown her. Yet again, he'd proven his muscles weren't just for show.

There was a collective gasp, and Erza rushed up to Natsu and grabbed his collar to lift him. "How could you do that? Juvia's feet are wounded!"

"What were you thinking?" Gray questioned emphatically.

"But they told me to," Natsu protested, pushing at Erza's fisted hands in an attempt to free himself.

"Stop freakin' out," Gajeel said.

When Erza only tightened her grip on Natsu, Lucy placed a calming hand on the redhead's arm and pointed out to the water. There was a little ripple, and then a large splash as a wave of spray followed a blissfully happy Juvia up and out of the lake, arching gracefully and returning to the water. When she resurfaced, Juvia did a little turn, water droplets circling her in what seemed a celebration of joyful reunion. The most beautiful thing of all, however, was Juvia's smile as she spun slowly around again with her arms extended to caress the surface of the water.

"Oh, Lucy! It's wonderful! It's wonderful! Come on!" Juvia called out, waving a hand above her head and flinging water into the water. The spray of water from her arms floated over to Lucy and propelled her towards the ledge. Lucy needed no further encouragement, and with a running start leapt into the beautiful blue lake.

The first thing she noticed was how different it felt to be completely wet, surrounded by water again. Air felt very different than water. Though it was a simple statement, it was also a profound truth when it came to sensations and how you understood the world around you. The second thing she noticed was that it was much harder to swim with no tail, two legs, and a dress dead set on getting wrapped around her limbs. How was Juvia being so graceful? The third thing she noticed as a result of the second: humans don't breathe underwater, and her lungs were beginning to feel mighty uncomfortable.

Fortunately, she didn't panic long, because Juvia rushed up from behind her and pulled her by the arms up to the surface. When they broke through, Juvia laughing and Lucy beaming, just bobbing in the water, Lucy felt so rejuvenated in was like nothing she'd ever experienced before. Lucy just relaxed as Juvia put her arms around Lucy's waist, and let her friend pull her around in the water for a few minutes. Lucy could feel the water responding to Juvia, almost rushing up to meet her, touch her, then part for her, both pulling her along and propelling her forward. Of course, Juvia and water. No wonder she could still be graceful, even as a human. But Lucy refused to let jealousy cloud this moment of happiness. Just she and her friend out in the water again. If she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine they were back in the ocean, nothing wrong and everything right, just playing and relaxing between jobs.

Thinking of jobs led to thinking about Natsu, and how he knew her name, and that led to other perplexing thoughts, like the situation back at home, and that brought Lucy quickly back to reality. Her tensing muscles cued Juvia to her changing emotions, and Juvia brought Lucy back over to the rocky ledge.

"Wasn't it wonderful, though?" Juvia sighed wistfully, clutching Lucy's hand. She waited for Lucy to respond with an excited nod before the water helped lift Lucy back to the ledge where Erza pulled her into a seated position. "So, where should I look then?" Juvia asked, using the water to suspend herself high enough to rest her elbows on the land. Lucy smirked in approval when the humans looked appropriately impressed with her friend.

Levy and Gray sat over the map, studying it carefully. After a moment, Levy shrugged her shoulders. "I'm sorry, but there's not much more information here than an 'x' marking a spot just a little ways out from this ledge. There's also a warning to mind the guardians, but gives no indication of what they might be."

Juvia merely pushed against the ledge, gliding away from land on her back with a satisfied smile. "Do not worry, friends. I don't mind looking around."

"But how are you gonna breathe down there?" Gray asked practically.

Finding the chance to show her abilities to the man who constantly impressed her, Juvia sparkled with enthusiasm. "Just watch me, Gray," she said as she lifted her arms out to the side. Water responded by rising around her in a sphere, pushing back the surrounding liquid to entrap Juvia in an air bubble. "With the air in here, I am perfectly fine."

"Then quit showin' off and get goin'," Gajeel barked. He was hunched in a sulk against the same tree previously occupied by Juvia, arms folded across his chest.

When Juvia obeyed, Levy looked over at the brooding merman on legs. "You know, you don't have to be so rude to your friend just because you're jealous."

"I ain't jealous!"

"Are, too! You want to get back in the water, but you can't," Levy deduced. "I can see the longing all over your face."

"You don't see nothing,' ya little shrimp," Gajeel insisted. "And who says I can't get in the water, anyhow?"

Jet and Droy were on Levy's side, which Lucy assumed was a constant for the little trio, and rushed to support her.

"Um, you're blind, buddy," Jet reminded him helpfully.

Levy piped back in, saying, "And you no longer have a tail or the capability to breathe underwater, so it's a drowning hazard."

"Yeah, you'd probably just end up drowning or something, even if you could get to the water," Droy added.

"And who would lead a blind mermaid to certain death? That's messed up," Natsu intoned, sounding very ethical.

Gajeel shot forward from the tree, directly towards Natsu who stood not far off. "That's it, ya stupid slime ball! I've had enough of ya callin' me a mermaid!"

"Oh, stop it, you two!" Levy said.

"What about the times I stood up for ya, huh?" Natsu asked, dodging Gajeel's arm swipe easily.

"Ya didn't stand up for me!" Another swipe.

"I did, too! You don't have a tail, so ya can't be a mermaid, can you?" Another sidestep, this time closer to Levy.

"Fine, argue away," Levy surrendered. "But try not to be so rude." She turned her attention back to the map over which she hunkered.

Gajeel took another step to his right, reached down and clutched his fist. It was the back of Levy's vest, and satisfied by her yelp it was Levy alright, growled out, "And you, what gives ya the right to preach, eh?" He yanked upwards, lifting Levy clear off the ground, legs kicking about in her protests. "Ya have no idea what's-" Gajeel paused in the middle of his tirade.

"What is it? Put me down!" Levy insisted, hands grabbing for Gajeel's.

"Ya really are a shrimp," Gajeel said bluntly. Levy's face took on an expression of shock. "Look, I can lift ya up and down without even feelin' it." And Gajeel proceeded to do just that, repeating his straight-arm lifts with Levy as his weight.

Breaking out of her silence, Levy's limbs went every which way as she shrieked, "Put me down, you big lug!"

Jet and Droy's cries echoed out with those of their little bluenette leader, and the four miscreants made a splendid cacophony. Natsu's laugh acted as the cherry on the top, making the whole situation funnier to Lucy, who was just enjoying Gajeel finally lightening up. She was sorry he couldn't go in the water, but it really was safer this way. Watching the scene made her think, however, of Gajeel's strength. Sure, he had always been strong, she had seen him lift some impressively sized debris and even rocks when the situation called for it. But straight-arming it out of the water without his powerful tail to back him up? Levy was small, but Lucy was thinking Gajeel was also just very strong. She was impressed, and her face clearly showed it.

"That looks fun, let me try!" Natsu shouted, trying to take Levy from Gajeel's grip, despite the fact Jet and Droy were also attempting the same thing.

Oh, sweet starlight, Natsu was involved. Something was going to fall over, someone was going to get hurt, something crazy was going to happen. Natsu was a force to be reckoned with, especially when he was wanting to try something "fun." Lucy had seen him playing tag back at the guild. No need for that right now!

Instead of watching the disaster in progress, Lucy ducked her head down into her lap and waited for the storm to pass. It wasn't like there was something she could do about it anyway. She turned her focus to the diminishing light: it was getting darker quickly. The sun was sinking low, making the sky beautiful with the deeper colors only the sleepy heavens could produce. Lucy pondered on why it seemed that sunrises were full of blushes and softness and promises, while sunsets were more brilliantly colored, almost heavier.

A two shouts and a squeal passed by her and broke through her thoughts. A splash. Yes, that's what Lucy had been waiting for. She opened her eyes to see Natsu and Gajeel still taking swings at each other while floundering in the lake below her. Poor Levy was still in Gajeel's grip, a mere fistful he didn't even bother to keep lifted up out of the water.

"Why didn't you let me try, jerk?" Natsu hollered.

"'Cause you're a jerk, stupid," Gajeel bellowed.

"Will someone get me away from these idiots?" Levy wailed.

Erza, who had been keeping her peace along with Gray as they patiently awaited Juvia's return, was now angered. Even if the redhead hadn't drawn her sword, Lucy would have been able to feel the irritation coming off the woman.

"Get out of there right now! Be responsible! The light wanes fast, and we have yet to find anything here."

Natsu was out first, scrabbling up the rocks easily. Gajeel was left awkwardly treading water, unsure of how to proceed or where to go. Levy sighed, noticing his hesitation. "Put me down, and I'll lead you to the ledge."

"Why would I want yer help?"

Despite the scoff, Gajeel did as Levy directed. They got as far as the ledge, preparing to climb up, before Erza lost her patience. Jet managed to fish Levy up safely, but Erza was none too gentle when she hauled Gajeel up by his jacket and tossed him behind her. Lucy took a moment to appreciate that everyone in the group, possibly with the exception of Levy, was astronomically stronger than she was. Although, the way this guild was proving itself, Lucy would be entirely unsurprised if Levy ended up displaying some superpower of her own. Maybe she would even carry Gajeel. Lucy tried to picture it, and tossed it immediately aside. Most definitely not happening.

"Poor Levy!" cried Droy. "You're all wet! Are you cold, too?"

"I can help warm you up!" Jet offered enthusiastically.

Gajeel sat in his crumpled, wet heap on the ground, entirely unamused by the scenario, even if Lucy was entertained by Levy's gentle refusals towards her eager companions. While Lucy still wore the silvery dress given her by Mavis, the one that was somehow always dryer than one would expect it to be, Gajeel had swapped out his gown in favor of something more masculine. As a result, he was sopping wet: his clothes, his mane of hair, his boots, everything save the silvery bandage fastened around his eyes.

"Huh. I always picture mermaids being more graceful comin' out of the water," Natsu remarked, just as wet after his douse. Gajeel growled dangerously in response, prompting Lucy to lean far back to offer a soothing hand. Another growl stayed her hand, and she pulled away cautiously. It was unwise to goad a hulking sea beast. Gajeel was no exception. She would allow him his space.

Since Gajeel wasn't wanting her help, and Juvia was gadding about underwater seeking something she'd never seen before, Lucy was left to shiver atop the ledge. The sun was completely past the horizon now, the sky barely lit with the remnant memories of sunshine. And it was cold with all this wet golden hair on her neck, trailing down her back. As a mermaid, Lucy usually kept her hair meticulously cared for, pearls and shells woven through braids, or left free and flowing through the water as she swam about. But even on the surface, she didn't just sit there with her tangled mess of hair chilling her. Whenever she became too cold, she could always just duck down into the comfortable water. Not so in her present circumstances.

A flare of light to her left pulled her attention. Her jaw dropped. Natsu, standing casually as if without a care in the world, was completely ablaze. On fire. Burning. Brilliant red and hungry orange flames covering his entire body. Head to foot. And he was entirely unconcerned about it all. As her jaw flapped up and down in an excellent imitation of a fish, Lucy noted no one else seemed concerned either. She would never, ever get used to this guild.

Taking a closer look, she realized his clothes weren't burning, and neither was his or hair. After a moment, the beautifully colored flames disappeared, leaving a dry Natsu much more satisfied with his lot in life. He looked over to see Lucy blinking wide eyes at him, trying to decide if he were bonkers or brilliant to be able to do something like that. Part of her also missed the warmth of the flames when he put himself out. In the end, she concluded that setting himself on fire to dry his clothes without damaging anything or anyone else was actually rather impressive. She allowed her lips to extend a little, and nodded her head in a sort of pouting nod of approval. Very well done, Natsu. She wished she could do a similar trick for her own wet hair.

"Not bad, huh?" Natsu bragged, coming closer to her. She allowed him another smile of congratulations before cutting him off lest his head swell too large with the praise. Her refined demeanor, however, was spoiled by another shiver running down her spine. "You alright?"

Lucy bunched her hair in her hand, lifting it from her neck. It didn't help much as far as warmth went, but it did bring it to Natsu's attention.

"Oh, here, I can help," Natsu offered. His extended hand burst into flame, and Lucy just about leapt back in the water to get away from it. He merely laughed at her reaction. The flame died down, and he pulled her hair away from her grasp. She could see the steam rising from the locks, but no smoke or tendrils of fire. "See? You can trust me." The last part was barely a whisper as he leaned closer to her ear.

So Lucy relaxed her tensed shoulders, and for the second time that day, allowed Natsu to manage her hair for her. The only thing she did was pull the blue ribbon from her hair, where it had been falling loose anyway, to pick out the knot while Natsu pampered her hair.

"Since when are you a hair stylist?" Gray asked. "Or useful, for that matter?"

"I'm plenty useful!" Natsu protested.

While listening to their argument, Lucy thought about what was happening with her hair. Was she just so used to the insanity of Fairy Tail she hadn't even paused to consider _how_ Natsu was drying her hair with his bare hands? Or _how_ he had set himself entirely ablaze a few minutes before? That can't be a normal trait in humans, she decided. Merfolk didn't know much more about human mages than they'd chanced across seeing on ships or boats or beaches. Lucy had seen Gray make a hammer of ice, and Natsu had used a fiery fist to fight said hammer. Erza pulled swords from the air to threaten people and open clams. What did the rest of these people do? Levy was a master of languages, but what about Jet and Droy? Or anyone else here? Humans were more impressive than she'd originally given them credit with skills like the ones she'd seen since entering the guild today.

Natsu had long since abandoned his task as her grooming specialist, and was now doing his best to punch Gray in the face. Gray was holding his own comfortably, and the insults were flying as fast as their fists. Lucy didn't bother paying them any mind, being too caught up in her thoughts. She wove the blue ribbon through her fingers as she sorted through her feelings and reactions to events. Maybe the reason she hadn't reacted much was because she'd reached her maximum capacity for shock and awe, let alone her need for answers. The world had become a very topsy-turvy place for three merfolk just last evening. It was amazing how quickly everything you knew could be ripped away from you. Lucy felt a pang of homesickness, followed by a hollow longing for something familiar.

Juvia's head popped above the water as if in answer to Lucy's heartfelt cry. What a welcome sight! Juvia in the water, just shoulders and up bobbing on the surface, was just about the most familiar thing Lucy could have asked for, even if she could barely see her in the near dark.

"I think I've found something deep down on the bottom of the lake," Juvia called to those waiting on shore. Gray and Natsu even paused, Gray holding onto Natsu's collar in to keep him from dodging his raised fist, and Natsu with elbow about to make contact with Gray's abdomen. When Juvia saw them frozen there, she added, "Natsu, please do not hurt Gray."

"But he started it!" Natsu said, not moving from his spot.

"Moving on," Levy said, coming close to Lucy. "What did you find?"

Keeping her gaze on Natsu and Gray, Juvia answered Levy's question. "It looks like a staff of some sort, buried in a long stone container with a broken lid."

"And what about the so-called 'guardians'? Did you have any trouble?" Levy asked.

"No, I saw no one else at all. Just some friendly fish who were very different than the ones back home."

Lucy wondered how different the fish could be in a distant body of water. Did it make a difference that the ocean where she lived was salty, and this lake was not?

"So do you think you can retrieve the staff without help?" Erza questioned, very task-oriented.

"The map did say that at least two were needed to retrieve any portion of the Trident," Levy offered by way of reminder.

"I think I'll need Gajeel's strength to get the lid removed from the container," Juvia answered. "If someone could help him to the water, I'll do the rest."

Gajeel barked out, "Anyone who touches me goes in the water."

Apparently, Gajeel was fed up with everyone in the group. Or perhaps it was with his status as a disabled member of the party who was forced to rely on others to get around. Regardless of the reason, Lucy watched him carefully as he stood and confidently strode towards the ledge. Lucy had to scoot over so he wouldn't trample her on his way into the lake. In he went with a splash, and the water was instantly around him, pulling him to Juvia. The other mermaid looked back to shore.

"And Lucy, it's too dark down there to see much. Do you think you could give us some light?" Juvia requested.

Now _that_ was something Lucy could actually do, and _that_ made her spirits rise. She was going to be useful again. She loved that feeling: being useful, needed, powerful enough to make a difference. Casting the ribbon down next to her, she stood and brushed off her dress. A little to the right, a part of the ledge rose a little higher and extended further into the lake. That was a good spot for what she was needing. Looking up as she walked out the path she'd noticed, Lucy thrilled to see so many stars. Her dear friends would surely help her.

At the end of the rocky pier, Lucy raised her right hand. She stilled her mind, and opened her heart. _Dear friends_ , she thought. _I need some light, a way to illuminate what I seek. It's important I find it in order to save my home. Please, won't you lend me some of your light?_

And then she waited. She heard feet shuffling around behind her, heard some murmuring.

"What's she doing?" someone muttered.

"Just shut up and watch," was the only response they got from Gajeel.

The first sparkle landed on the tip of her forefinger: a single brilliant dot in the darkness. It didn't remain solo for long, however, when an increasing number of warm golden sparks gather around her hand, some joining to other sparks, some standing a little apart from the others. As the number increased, so did the strength of the light emanating from her hand.

 _Friends, it is dark at the bottom of the lake. Please help me spread this beautiful light deep enough to make a difference._

The light continued to grow. When Lucy moved her hand a little higher, going up to meet the spots of light that appeared a few feet over her head, the light trailed out behind her movements. She loved watching this effect, the beauty and grace of starlight in her hand. Just a little more light, and she'd have enough to start Juvia and Gajeel on their dive.

"I didn't realize how dark it'd gotten until the light came back," Jet remarked.

"It's so beautiful, Lucy," Levy said, awe in her voice.

"Where's the light comin' from?" Gray asked.

"Where'd ya think it's comin' from?" Gajeel responded with a question.

There was a longer pause as everyone watched the brilliant sparkles coming down to Lucy like so much illuminated sand to gather into a torch-like flame.

"They look like tiny little stars," Levy said dreamily.

Gajeel grunted in approval.

"Wait a minute," Gray said. "When you say 'star girl,' do you mean _star_ girl?"

Juvia responded with enthusiastic pride, "Well, of course _you_ would figure it out, Gray. You are so intelligent!" Lucy was amused, but tried to keep her concentration on her connection with the stars.

"Wow, Luce, that's pretty neat!" Natsu congratulated.

Of course his voice would pop in while she was attempting to focus. Normally, some human's voice wouldn't be that much of a distraction, but he was no ordinary human. Natsu _knew_ things, important things like her name, and insignificant things like her preference for raspberries, and moderately personal things like the best way to handle her hair. And those facts made Lucy wary and unsure how to handle this man. Realizing she had let her thoughts wonder, she dragged them back to the matter at hand- her hand, actually.

 _Dear friends, just a little more. Let this light reach the depths, and let there be light for we who remain on the shore. Leave us not in darkness._

She smiled as her hand grew brighter, heart warming in the response from her friends in the heavens. They were constant, no matter what happened down here on land and sea.

"Loke!" Levy cried in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Are these-?" Droy's question was cut off with a _thwump_ sound.

Footsteps approached Lucy, though she didn't remove her gaze to see who until a body was pressed closely against hers, and an arm snaked around her waist. Loke stood to her left, holding a lantern aloft in offering. "I thought you could use some light, beautiful," he said in that smooth voice of his. "It's getting mighty dark out here."

"Y'know I can just make a torch with my hand, right?" Natsu huffed in the background.

"Yeah, but you might just blow up the woods around us while you're at it," Gray jabbed.

In a slashing motion, Lucy pointed her hands towards the water by Juvia and Gajeel. Light shot from her hand, lighting up the underwater world as the beam delved deep into the lake. Lucy loved the way starlight banded together, seemingly one grand light, but it was still made of many tiny pricks of light huddling together. If she looked closely, she could see a starbeam or two wonder off from the main beam, lending a beautiful, magical feeling to it all.

"Thank you, Lucy! We'll see what we can do now!" Juvia called, wrapping herself and Gajeel in her water sphere once more before diving after the light.

With most of the light now shooting underwater, it became significantly darker on shore. Loke, still holding Lucy tight in his embrace, held his lantern a little higher. "Good thing I thought to bring some light, huh Lucy? Wouldn't want to abandon you out here in the dark."

"It can't be dark if I'm here," Natsu pointed out again. Lucy didn't know if he and Gray had fought over the last quip exchange since she had been preoccupied, but Natsu was still irritated about something. Perhaps he really took pride in being able to provide light or something.

"And we've been over the risk factors of you being the one to blast everything to pieces," Gray returned.

Lucy sighed, and looked back at the illuminated water. _Thank you, friends. Thank you for the light._

"You're welcome," Loke murmured.

Lucy whipped her head towards him, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking up into the heavens with such a longing look on his face, it was almost painful. Why had he responded to her silent gratitude? Was he a mage who practiced telepathy?

Feeling her stare, Loke turned his gaze to meet hers. "If I hadn't shown up, who knows what Natsu would have wound up doing?"

Oh. He was being proud, taking much credit to his actions. That was all. She had simply been reading too much into the situation, though she could hardly be blamed for doing it. Wasn't this whole horrendous adventure of theirs excuse enough for her to be wary and over cautious in her approach to everything?

"I ain't a fire hazard, Loke! I know what I'm doin' when it comes to fire. I'm a fire-"

Natsu's offended rant was cut off by an enormous splash erupting from the water. Something was happening. Something big. Walls of water were splitting, creating an opening in the lake surface. Blue creatures were zooming back and forth, surrounding two forms locked in a water sphere.

 _Juvia! Gajeel! Sweet Mavis, are you two alright?_

* * *

 **Dear Friends,**

 **I'm back. Hello again. Chapters will likely be varied in length from here on out, according to the needs and requirements of segments and flow of action.**

 **I would like to make a public statement. It's very important:** _ **Astroman1000 is not chopped liver**_ **. At all. I just wanted everyone to know that.**

 **Also, thank you to KitKattNinja for beta-ing even though I send chapters at irregular intervals late at night. Her helps makes me much more confident in sharing this with all of you.**

 **In other news, I've signed up for a little writing something on tumblr. I don't know what I was thinking when I did that, maybe I wasn't. I'll give more information next time.**

 **Whelp. I'm off to start the next chapter so it doesn't take another seventeen and a half years to get it up for you folks.**

 **PLEASE review. Your response for the last chapter was incredibly heartening, and I so appreciated each review. Let me know what you liked, what needs fixing, if there are holes not being explained, if there are dumb jokes no one but me is getting, if you would like to shoot any of the characters, if you would like to play Jenga or Go Fish or Uno with any of the characters, or if you have any other confessions you'd like to make. Particularly if they refer to the story in some shape or form. But hey, I guess I'm not too picky. I like meeting people.**

 **Cheers!**

 **Anne-Marie**


	8. Chapter 8

Lucy had seen many marvelous phenomena while living at sea, but she'd never seen the water divide itself and open like one of Levy's books. She could see down to the bottom of the lake. She could see forms flitting around Juvia and Gajeel. She could see her friends surrounded. Surrounded. And she couldn't do anything to help. Were they in danger?

"What's going on?" Levy asked while taking a defensive stance, a hand readied angled across her torso. "I've never seen water do something like this before."

"If you don't know, I doubt anyone else would," Erza replied, drawing her sword. "Brace yourselves and prepare for combat, should it come to that."

There was a tenseness in the air, the gathered mages quiet and serious as Lucy had not seen them before. The sounds of water, call of evening birds, and thrum of magic were the only sounds to hear. All were focused on the illuminated scene on the lakebed. The figures swimming close by her friends didn't appear to be instigating any attacks, but Lucy was not comforted by the fact that violence had not yet begun. There was no stability or surety in this new world, in this new way of life. Not like there had been back at home. While she leaned forward over the rocky ledge to attempt a closer view, she could feel Loke pulling her back towards him, acting as a counterbalance.

"Is anything happening?"

Lucy wasn't sure if it were Jet or Droy who had asked the question, but she was wondering the same thing. For all appearances, it seemed like Juvia was having a conversation with whoever was down there, a long chest opened beside them. Perhaps Gajeel had managed to move one side of the cracked lid before the guardians had shown themselves. They had been so close to the Trident piece. Pity the water was covering up any sounds, blocking out her ability to discover the details, or even the vague generalities of the situation.

One of the dark figures darted to the chest, pulling out a staff before turning to face Juvia and Gajeel again. Another moment passed without movement. Juvia pointed up, and after a pause, the figure jabbed the staff upwards as well. Was it being used as a weapon? Lucy leaned out further.

"Easy there," Loke cautioned, tightening his grip. "Having you fall in won't help anything."

It turned out that Lucy didn't need to fall in the water in order to become wet or involved: Shadowy figures and friends shot from their position down below to the surface of the lake, water falling back into its place behind them with a great splash. Lucy, dangling out from the ledge, was in prime position to be doused by the flying water, even with Loke jerking her back to his side and relative safety.

"Is this the one you spoke of, water's daughter?" came a melodious voice. It sounded like a trickle of water finding its way down a rock cliff, the kind of trickle that became a pretty little waterfall that would plunge into the ocean. The voice reminded Lucy of one of her favorite haunts, and made her homesick.

"Yes, that is Lucy, my friend," Juvia answered.

Lucy shook off her nostalgia and tried to assess what was before her. Gajeel and Juvia floated atop the lake, Juvia holding tight to one end of a staff which extended to the figure Lucy had seen before. It was a womanly creature, pale and blue and white and delicate and beautiful, much like Juvia. Three other such creatures swam a little further off.

"Lucy," the main creature repeated, staring at Lucy a moment. "She is no more water's daughter than that sulking beast you have with you now."

Not a water's daughter? What was that supposed to mean? Lucy was a mermaid, which was a maiden of the ocean. Maidens were daughters of someone. The ocean was a large body of water. Water. Daughter. Water's daughter. Lucy was offended someone would try to shut her out of her only group.

"What? But she is the same as-" Juvia began.

"No, she is nothing like you. You are a water's daughter like us. The fact that we are fresh water and you are from the salty ocean makes no true difference."

"We are both mermaids, though," Juvia said, defending her friend. That made Lucy smile.

"Mermaids have nothing to do with it. You were a water's daughter before you were a mermaid. You are one of us," said the beautiful voice.

"And what are they exactly?" Gray voiced, hands still clasped at the ready for his icy magic.

"Nymphs," breathed Levy. "They're nymphs. Beautiful, rarely seen, female creatures so connected with their rivers and waters that they can hardly be separated. They also act as protectors for their territories, and keep the waters clean."

But nymphs? Juvia was a mermaid, and this nymph claimed Juvia as one of her own kind?

The nymph connected to Juvia through the staff nodded in approval. "Yes, you are well-informed, little sprite. And because a water's daughter has come seeking this staff hidden so long with us, we entrust it to her. Take it with our blessing, but also with a warning." Her eyes hardened, her voice sharpened, and the water became turbulent around her. "This staff is part of the Trident. Using lightly its powers will bring devastating repercussions upon not only yourself, but all you hold dear. _Especially_ on that which you hold dearest."

Juvia's large eyes flicked towards Gray for a moment before returning to the staff in her hands.

"This is a burden that you alone will carry as you are the one to which the staff is entrusted," continued the nymph, casting a glance towards Gajeel and then Lucy. "We would not dare to grant this to any not a water's daughter: they lack the strength and character to bear this burden."

Lucy straightened her back, lifted her nose, and turned to walk regally away from this clique monster. Unfortunately, Loke didn't let go of her quickly enough for her to make a smooth exit, and released her too quickly once she'd lost her balance already, leaving her stumbling about like a fool until she rammed into Gray's once again bare chest.

"Whoa, you okay, Lucy?" Gray asked, hands grabbing her shoulders to help steady her.

A collective hiss had Lucy peering nervously over her shoulder. All the nymphs wore outraged faces, clearly nettled. Their voices hissed out quickly.

"You allow another to approach your beloved?"

"You called this creature your friend, and she turns on you to steal your beloved."

"Traitorous beloved, how could you let your hands wander?"

Juvia's eyes narrowed towards the nymphs around her. "Lucy is my friend, and she knows my feelings. I choose to trust her." She tugged the end of the staff from the leader, and spoke with firmness. "I have heard your warning, and I accept responsibility. Thank you."

Water pushed Juvia and Gajeel to shore, then lifted them up to sit on dry land.

"Very well, water's daughter. Go on your way in peace, flowing with the mother we have as part of our beings. Flow sweetly, water's daughter."

The nymphs turned and dived down into the lake, disappearing from view. Stunned silence filled the air for a moment when a small splash broke it. A film of water dropped from Gajeel's lips and he took some gasping breaths.

"Why'd ya gag me, ya crazy-"

"Because you were ruining negotiations with your harsh comments," Juvia interrupted.

"I didn't see ya gaggin' them for callin' me a 'nasty, brutish barbarian,' though, did I?"

"Because that's the truth, dummy," Natsu laughed, throwing his hands behind his head.

Levy grinned. "He's right, you know."

That was the key to breaking the tension. Squabbling and ribbing and arguing returned to their former, rightful places amongst the companions. Except for Lucy, who, when she turned to share a celebratory smile with her friend, found Juvia's rage-filled eyes burning at her.

"I chose to trust you on our friendship, Lucy. Do not test me."

Lucy was confused, but then realized she was still rather intimately close to Gray. Floundering about and flailing her arms suddenly seemed like a good idea. Well, at least it did until her mad fit of brilliance had the sum effect of slapping Gray in the face, tripping over a rock, and nearly pulling off Levy's skirt on her way down. This prompted Levy to squeal, and grab at her skirt while throwing herself in the opposite direction of the attack, leaving her teetering on the edge about to fall in the lake.

"Levy! We'll catch you!" chorused her two friends, rushing forward with arms outstretched.

They did not succeed in catching her. Levy managed to find her balance and pull herself back to safety just as Jet and Droy made a grab for her previous position. In the end, Jet and Droy found themselves holding each other tightly in the lake, Levy was blushing and holding her skirt in place, and Lucy was on the ground with a throbbing cheek and smarting ego. She closed her eyes tightly. The pains she suffered to prove to her good friend Juvia that she, Lucy, was no love rival. Juvia most definitely should be grateful Lucy was willing to go so far for a friend, because her face would undoubtedly be blemished by that little stunt of hers just now.

Over the sounds of raucous laughter (Natsu could not contain his absolute amusement), barked demands (Gajeel couldn't see, remember?), and plaintive howling (Jet and Droy wanted out of the lake), Lucy heard foot falls approach her.

"Are you injured?" inquired Erza, voice a pitch gentler than usual. Lucy, not wanting to admit weakness before such a strong human, merely waved her hand about noncommittally. "I see." Erza was not at all convinced, Lucy thought. Her hypothesis was proven correct when Erza hauled Lucy over her shoulder before turning back to the group to issue commands: "We have succeeded in our mission to retrieve this part of the Trident. We return now to the guild, and we can inspect this staff there. Levy, help guide Gajeel. Natsu, fish those two out of the water. Loke, carry Juvia. Gray, help with the staff. Now, let's move."

Par for the course, people felt it necessary to argue about their orders. Erza's powerful glare put everyone's concerns to a swift end, everyone's save Gajeel's, who, being blind as well as obstinate, felt neither the wrath of Erza's glare nor the need to let his opinion die down just because everyone else fell silent. Juvia gave an occasional mutter about Gray and Loke and who had her loyalty, but remained mostly subdued. Quite frankly, Lucy knew she would be protesting vocally if she were capable: it wasn't very flattering, the way she was being carried, and Erza was leading the party back. At least it was dark, so even though Lucy was bobbing along on Erza's shoulder in front of all of them, it wasn't like they could all see her very well. Small mercies.

Back in the guild hall, they gathered around the table still piled high with Levy's books, all pushed to one side. Lucy, with a small ice pack against her swollen cheek, sat beside Juvia once more, staff laid before them. It was a beautiful thing, Lucy admired. Around Lucy's height, or a little shorter, and covered in blue-green and gold swirled designs that looked like coral made of sunshine in a mystical sea.

"It sure is beautiful," Mira commented, hands clasped before her. "The gold really stands out."

"That's because the green stuff is patina on bronze inlay," Levy said. "At least, that's most likely. Bronze tarnishes, but gold doesn't. Not like this. I wonder if the creator did that on purpose."

"It certainly does look like a treasure that belongs to the sea," Juvia agreed, hand still attached the staff. Lucy hadn't seen her let go of the object since receiving it from the nymphs- Lucy refused to call them _water's daughters_ after their exclusionary remarks- back in the lake. Even when Gray was helping lift the weight of it while Loke carried Juvia, she had kept a hand on the end of the staff. She must be taking the nymph's charge seriously. She certainly had a history of keeping pledges most faithfully.

Gajeel grunted. "Not that this isn't great or anythin', but what are we s'posed to do with this? It's a giant stick. Useless. We need the other parts."

"Yes, but it is a start, Gajeel," Juvia soothed.

"Great, great," Gajeel nodded impatiently. "Where's the map? Where's the next piece?"

Gray, arms crossed on his still bare chest, said, "No need to rush it, pal. It's dark out, time for dinner and sleep. We're not gettin' any more pieces tonight."

"Perhaps we cannot retrieve any more of the pieces," Erza conceded, "but we can make a strategy tonight in order to act in the morning. So, yes, bring out the map."

"And dinner!" Natsu added. "Gray made a valid point for once."

Natsu's call for food made Lucy pause. She had been so focused on the task at hand to save her home that she hadn't given any consideration to the more mundane, albeit rather important necessities of food and accommodations. It was not long after sundown, but Lucy was beginning to feel the fatigue gain ground in her body and consciousness. Where were they supposed to sleep tonight? Yes, there were remaining funds from the pearl sold last evening, but how long would that go in feeding and lodging all three of them? How much was even left? How did human currency even work? How would they travel to the other locations to find the remaining pieces of the Trident? Train tickets required funds as well. Lucy dropped the ice pack on the table and began combing her fingers through her hair, searching for any stray pearls that could have been missed during earlier stylings.

Levy put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright? Did you hurt your head when you fell earlier?"

What? Injured her head? Oh. Lucy supposed she could see how Levy reached that conclusion, but no. But would a bumped head have been better than her bumped jaw? Perhaps the injury may have been worse, but at least it would not have been visible. Lucy hoped her jaw didn't sport an unsightly bruise to mar her beauty. Without any pearls, her looks would have to be put to great effect in the near future.

"Sorry, I forgot. Here's pen and paper."

Even with the supplies in hand, Lucy hesitated. Levy noticed, and said, "Don't worry about the others seeing. I'm the only one who can read that language here. Besides, they're eating. We may as well not even exist right now."

Seeing the exuberant diners around her, Lucy had to agree with that. Juvia was alternating her praise of Gray with dainty bites, Gajeel was muttering dark curses while munching his finger foods, Natsu was having some sort of competition with Gray to see who was better at slurping noodles, and that little stunt was garnering everyone else's attention. Now was as good a time as any for a somewhat private conversation.

 _I was looking for any pearls in my hair_ , Lucy wrote. _I don't have any more, and I don't know if Juvia does either._

"We can ask her after dinner, maybe we can all go to the bathhouse together."

 _Where are we going to sleep? Where are-_ Lucy stopped writing when Levy's suggestion registered. _Bath house?_

"Oh, I guess they wouldn't have those in the ocean, would they?" Levy chuckled. "It's just a house with public baths in it. There's one here in town that's got restorative properties to it, physically and magically. We girls could go together after dinner."

 _That sounds nice._

"Awesome. We'll go later, then," Levy said, leaning over Lucy's paper to grab a dish of food from the middle of the table. "As for your other question, you girls can bunk at Fairy Hills. That's the girls' dorm here. You can stay with me, if you'd like."

Lucy paused. She didn't wish to intrude, but they did need a place to sleep. And what about Gajeel? She wrote that question down.

"Hmmm," Levy hummed while slurping a noodle. "If we can't find any guys willing to let him crash with them, he might be able to stay in the infirmary here for the first night. At least until we find something else for him."

 _He can't see. I don't want to leave him alone._

"That's a good point. We'll just make one of the guys stay with him. Erza and Mira can handle that, and you can stay with us girls." Levy continued eating, then cast a knowing look at Lucy. "Besides, you probably need a break from those guys over there. No boys allowed in Fairy Hills."

 _I acc-_

Lucy stopped trying to write her hearty acceptance, and started shaking Levy's hand enthusiastically instead. The other girl just laughed. Lucy could appreciate the fact that though she was a mermaid, and Levy a human, they were both still female. And that meant something, something she could appreciate. Perhaps Levy could become a great friend here, one who would keep in contact with her when she went back home. Especially if Juvia continued in her affections for Gray.

Wait. Hold that thought. How was that going to work out? A sick feeling of worry for her friend took up residence in Lucy's stomach, spoiling her appetite right after settling other matters enough for her to gain one in the first place. Juvia felt so keenly, so purely. If she loved, she loved; if she was happy, she was happy. Lucy couldn't really imagine what a heartbroken Juvia would look like, and she didn't want to see it at all. But how else could this love story play out?

Levy, who noticed the sudden swing in emotion, pushed some food towards Lucy. "I don't know what just happened in your head, but you should probably eat something. You'll need the energy."

A vague nod, and a return to her own inner world while absently eating what Levy had placed before her. It was unlikely Lucy would get a moment to herself while this desperate search for the Trident progressed. Back in the ocean, if Lucy needed to be alone, she would just flick her tail and go to one of her favorite haunts for a while. She couldn't do that here, not only because she had no tail, but because she couldn't leave without someone to help her return. She would get lost in this city if she were to leave her companions. Besides, there wasn't time to be wasting anyway. Who knew what was happening to her home right now? The longer she took, the worse things could be getting for those left behind.

It was nice, though. Having people around her, people who clearly cared for each other. The desire to be able to have some peace and quiet was heavily countered by the fact that, without a voice, Lucy was bombarded with her own thoughts, worries, feelings, concerns, opinions, clever comebacks, scathing remarks, gentle encouragements, and everything _herself_ with no real way of escaping. Isolation in the midst of a raucous crowd was a difficult emotion to handle. Without Levy, pen, and paper, Lucy was alone, in a sense. Alone in that she had no great way to interact with life, no way to communicate, and limited ways to participate.

Maybe there was a way to increase her role in this escapade of theirs? Perhaps involving herself in the action would help her feel less cut off. But how could she do that when her opinions, protests, suggestions, and warnings all had to be conveyed with gestures and facial expressions?

So lost in thought was she that when she heard someone shout her name, she was incredibly surprised to see the whole table staring at her in silence. She blinked. Was her face really bruised? Subtly, she placed a hand over the sore spot.

"Sorry for shouting," Levy said. "It's just that we've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes now."

Lucy flushed. Gajeel snorted. "One of these days, star girl, havin' yer head outta the water is gonna get ya in trouble."

This was a rather obvious statement to Lucy, who used the fact that her head was currently out of the water and she, and all of merkfolkdom, were very much in trouble. But that wasn't her fault. It was the trouble that forced her head out of the water in the first place; it's not like she'd chosen to come up on human lands in a human body of her own free will. Gajeel made it sound like she was vapid and empty-headed, when the truth was far from that: her mind was filled with wonder of the world around her, the desire to go on adventures (safely), and all sorts of bits and pieces of stories she itched to weave together into a tale worth passing along to others.

Instead of giving into temptation to show her tumultuous feelings for her friend and the general circumstances, Lucy waved a hand to indicate the conversation should proceed. She was paying attention now.

"The way the map and the story was goin', I expected it to be more exciting," Natsu commented, slumping forward and folding his arms across his chest. "That was actually kind of boring. Nothin' happened."

"Are you forgetting about the giant water moving incident?" Droy demanded.

"Or the nymphs guarding the staff?" Jet added.

"No, I'm not forgettin'," Natsu said. "I just think it was boring."

Gray scoffed. "You just wanted to break something or throw fire at something to make it explode."

"Like you didn't want to do something, too!"

"At least I'm not lookin' a gift horse in the mouth," Gray countered, joining his hands and extending them over his head in a stretch. Juvia liked it; Lucy could see it in the way her eyes lit up and roved over his form. Well, to be fair, Gray _was_ nice to look at, with or without a shirt. His outline was just masculine. It drew the eye.

"I'm not lookin' any horse in the mouth," Natsu said with a grimace. "Why would I want to look at someone's mouth? That's gross."

"Not everyone's mouth is gross," argued a brunette over a table. She was wearing a top similar to one mermaids would wear, and she draped herself fetchingly around a giant barrel. "In fact, my mouth is beautiful, and it does beautiful things." She waggled her eyebrows and puckered her lips.

"All your mouth does is drink booze," Natsu said.

"Oh, there are other things I can-"

"Thank you for your input, but let's move on now," Erza ordered, turning back around in her seat from where she had been regarding the other girl. "There is no need for such conversation at a time like this. Horses AND mouths aside, we must plan our next move."

"Why is Cana's mouth less appropriate than a horse's mouth?" Natsu asked, head cocked to the side.

The whole table groaned. Various variations of, "What an idiot," and, "How is he so naïve?" were murmured while faces were rubbed. And while those faces were being rubbed, and eyes were being rolled, no one but Lucy caught the twinkling spark of laughter in his eye as he regarded his handiwork. Lucy was beginning to get the impression that this sort of thing happened a lot, and that Natsu was considered as somewhat dumb around the guild- but perhaps only because Natsu let it happen that way. He knew a lot more than he let on, just the same way he knew how to take care of her before others did. Or maybe he really was just daft and there was no real basis to any of these mad hypotheses of hers. Lucy was sick of thinking.

"Moving on," Levy cleared her throat. "I think we can all agree that getting the first portion of the Trident, this staff, was a success. But there are three more pieces we still need to find."

"And looking at this map, they're not all that close to each other, or to us," Gray commented. He pointed to a spot next to green triangles and a wobbly blue line. "This one is the closest; we could start there."

"Is there a chance of the rest of the guardians just giving us the pieces like they did this time?" asked Loke.

"Who said you were taggin' along?" Natsu demanded defensively.

"Who said I couldn't?" Loke said with his suave smile and confidently gleaming eyes. Lucy made a mental note that this guild Mavis set up really was a nice place to find attractive men. Gray, Natsu, and Loke were all high on the list of "Best Looking Humans I've Ever Seen" Lucy had going in her mind. Or mermen, for that matter.

Erza hummed in thought. "Though it is possible, I think it would be best to-"

"Why don't ya let Juvia answer, huh? Since she's the one they gave it to and all."

Gajeel had a point, but he could have made it in a more polite manner. Erza, however, did not seem too offended, and even motioned for Juvia to respond according to Gajeel's suggestion.

"Well, we can't be sure that will happen again," Juvia said slowly, a graceful finger tracing the outline of her jaw, moving back and forth as she spoke. "To be honest, I'm not even entirely certain what happened out there with the others. They called me a 'water's daughter,' but said Lucy and Gajeel weren't one of them. Something about them not having the right connection, love, and understanding. Blocked emotions clouded by judgments. That's what they said about Lucy, down when we were at the bottom of the lake. They came up to see more closely when I insisted Lucy and I were both mermaids. For whatever reason, these nymphs, or water's daughters, have claimed me as their own kind, and decided to trust me with their piece of the Trident."

"I ain't no water's daughter," Gajeel spat. "And I ain't no mermaid neither."

"Now Gajeel I can understand," Levy spoke up. "But what about Lucy? This doesn't make a lot of sense to me."

Juvia hesitated, looking at Lucy, and then to Gajeel. "I have a theory… but I'd like some time to work on it before discussing it. It's rather personal, and if I'm wrong, I'd rather not dig up more problems for us."

Lucy wondered if Juvia had a thought similar to hers. She would ask later tonight when they were alone. Oh. No, she wouldn't. She couldn't speak. But she did have a clue as to Juvia's theory, and tried to glean from Gajeel's expression if he might be having similar thoughts as well.

"Very well," Erza allowed, moving to stand. "In the morning, early, we move out to find the next piece of the Trident. This one here," she said, pointing at the next closest piece of trident on the map. "Rest well, everyone. We shall need our might for this quest, to work quickly and help our new friends save their home."

Gajeel _humphed_ in response. Lucy and Juvia smiled gratefully, beautifully, and slightly apologetically. With all of the stress of the day, Lucy was so looking forward to relaxing in a giant bath and be fully immersed in water again. Fully immersed in water, and no attractive humans to stare at, or glance cautiously at in fear of Juvia's notice. No distractions, just peace.

It was going to be a lovely break.

* * *

 **Dear Friends,**

 **I know it's been more than a year since I posted. I'm sorry. In summation: a gruesome battle for health, near losses, almost victories, mellow stability, slow improvement. But I'm alive. And I'm writing again. It's not perfect, but I'm just happy to be able to write and post something. :) I've got next week's chapter written and ready for editing, and we know where we're going.**

 **I would like to thank those of you who favorited, followed, and reviewed, even while I was MIA. Fanficer21 and smj40 both had 2017's by their names. Thanks. I didn't even know people saw this anymore. And to all my old friends, hello. I missed you. Boogey56 and FireShifter and Astroman1000, you've been there every chapter with reviews that stood out. Thanks for that. And to every single person who's read this story. Thank you. I know I'm not mentioning everyone, and I'm sorry. But thank you.**

 **Here's to health and happy writing in the new year!**

 **Cheers!**

 **Anne-Marie**


	9. Chapter 9

It was not a lovely break. It was no break at all. If anything, it was a breaking of Lucy's hope for a moment to think about and process all of the chaos that had become her life these past twenty-four hours. No, it was more than that now. More than that, and Lucy just wanted a moment to breathe and try to sort out what exactly was happening to and around her.

But she had no moment. Gajeel had refused to stay with some "strange human," as he put it, and insisted on sleeping on a bed in the infirmary. Juvia and Lucy, however, had adamantly refused in turn to leave their blind friend to fend for himself in a "strange environment," as Juvia put it. Guild rules did not permit non-guild members to stay in the guild hall without supervision, which meant Erza had stayed behind as well. When Levy had offered to take Lucy over to the baths, it had turned into another fist fight between Natsu and Gray- Lucy still didn't know how that one happened- that became very ugly when a stray fist decked Gajeel. Once Erza had split the three brutes apart and commanded the two who could see to tidy up the furniture, martial law descended. The three merfolk and Erza stayed in the infirmary, everyone else left.

There was no gossip before bed. Lucy was almost grateful for it, since she wouldn't have been able to communicate without Levy's brain and paper anyway.

Morning brought little respite from the strain of the previous evening: for whatever reason, everyone felt the need to argue over who would be allowed to join the party or not. Loke volunteered to come along, Natsu punched him. Gajeel demanded Levy come on account of her ability to read the map, Levy refused to be ordered around. Gray offered to get Lucy's breakfast, Juvia bristled with envy. Lucy passed the food to Gajeel, who then bumped it onto Jet's shirt. Jet called Gajeel stupid, Droy agreed.

When Master came over and handed out orders, Lucy was so grateful she almost cried, holding back only because she was afraid of any tiny whimpers that might come along with the tears. Loke was assigned to a separate, pre-arranged job, Team Shadow Gear (Levy's group), would not be going along with the merfolk, though they could accompany them to the train station if they so chose, and only Gray, Natsu, and Erza would actually go for the trip. They would take the train immediately, and, depending on the situation, return that evening, or the next day.

After some heavy persuasion, Juvia left the staff at the guild hall under the protection of its members and master. The chance of it being stolen or damaged while carting it about was high, and Juvia wanted no part in the threats against her beloved coming to pass. She took the warnings by those "water's daughters" very seriously.

Leading Gajeel back through the streets of Magnolia to the train station, Lucy felt tired. It would have been much easier if she had deprived of the physical ability to make sound, not punished when she failed to restrain from gasping, crying out, commenting, humming in response, or just making some sort of peep when she stubbed her toe and tumbled into Levy's unsuspecting back. But punished she was for that last one, and her hacking threw off her balance enough to send her and Levy to the ground. Gajeel, thankfully, was strong enough to hold his ground enough to only hunch over when the girls fell, because Lucy's hand was grappled to his forearm to brace herself, pulling it closer to her mouth along with her other hand when she tried to stifle the coughing by stopping up her mouth. It didn't work.

It did do _something_ , though. It created more problems. Once the coughing subsided and Lucy managed to catch her breath, Levy cradling her to support her weight, Gajeel developed an unusual angry protectiveness. Natsu offered to carry Lucy, since that would be the faster way to travel to the train station, and they were getting close to missing their ride. Gajeel refused to let anyone touch Lucy, and demanded that Juvia be brought closer to him and Lucy as well. In the midst of demands and squabbles, Gray carried Juvia close enough to hold Lucy's other hand. It was difficult to walk this way, Lucy leading Gajeel while holding onto Juvia, trying to match pace with Gray. But it was worth it to be connected to her two friends.

Once they finally made it to the station, Jet was dispatched to quickly purchase tickets. After boarding, another feat for their blind companion, they settled into a compartment with opened windows. A voice from outside hailed them as Team Shadow was leaving the train.

"Hey! Natsu! Where you going?"

Lucy leaned over to look past others to the window, and saw a small girl with long blue hair, followed by two animals, one white, one light blue, walking on their hind legs. The animals were wearing clothes. Lucy blinked. Was that normal up here in the human world?

"Happy! Hey, buddy!" Natsu called in greeting, standing by the window. Lucy thought that was an odd name for a cute girl, but who could really explain humans? When the blue animal with green pack came forward to Natsu, Lucy decided to withhold any more assumptions.

"Natsu, we're just getting back, and you're trying to leave without me?" The pack-equipped animal was speaking. Of course it was.

"Nah, of course not!" Natsu said, gesturing to the group behind him. "Just helping our new friends find some important doodads, that's all."

Lucy felt her face contort at the explanation. Doodads. Yeah, that's all they were. Not like they were important doodads that would help save her home. No, nothing like that.

Natsu carried on, "Hey, why don't you guys come with us!"

Erza jumped in the conversation here. "Yes, that might be wise. Wendy could be very useful, since we have little real information on what we're going up against."

The little girl shyly held her hands before her face, looking down a little. "I'd love to come, if you think that I could help."

"Of course you'll be of help, chid," admonished the white creature in a dress. "Don't allow your low confidence to hurt your abilities."

Lucy missed the girl's response due to Erza's dealing out commands again. "Jet, get Wendy a ticket. Quickly, the train shall depart at any minute now. Levy, be sure to inform Master as to Wendy's whereabouts. We wouldn't want him worried. Wendy, come on up. Gray, put your shirt back on. And Natsu-"

"Why didn't you tell me to come on up, too? Why only Wendy, huh?" interrupted the blue one from his perch on Natsu's head, white wings extended out on either side of him. He had flown through the window. Lucy certainly hadn't heard of any such creatures before-he really didn't look like a bird- but then she was hardly an expert on land life.

"Because you would've come anyway," Gray said.

"Of course Happy'd have come," Natsu said. "He's my little buddy! He goes where I go."

Juvia looked confused. "But he wasn't with you by the seashore."

Or out by the rocks when Natsu had been dying, Lucy added in her mind.

"That's because I had to protect Wendy and Carla on their important mission," Happy said, striking a wide-legged heroic stance on Natsu's head. "They needed a brave, strong guy like me to watch out for them."

Lucy really just decided to stop being involved at this point. Her brain could handle no additional input. So she shut her eyes and just didn't listen to anything or anyone. She felt the train lurch to a start a few minutes later, and let the rhythmic motions lull her into a thoughtful stupor. Unfortunately for her tired mind, she found herself contemplating some of these new humans in her life, and their…complications. Particularly Natsu and Loke.

Loke presented a mystery to Lucy, of an entirely different sort than Natsu: Natsu _knew_ things about Lucy; Loke didn't. Loke sent a tingle of familiarity down Lucy's spine, calling her to recognize some important fact about him; Natsu didn't. This whole mix-up of men and memories was maddening. Lucy wanted it to just stop already. She had enough to deal with, including Mavis' crazy guild, powerful Tridents, old maps with vague hints, a talking blue creature (apparently called an exceed) who couldn't seem to keep a polite tongue in his head, and an overly green Natsu she had spotted when her eyes fluttered open after a larger sway broke her trance. Really. Was he always like this on transportation?

Hold on a moment. Hold on just one dolphin-frolicking moment. He couldn't be like this on all transportation. Lucy first met him on a boat. A very loose definition of a sinking piece of a ship kind of boat, but out on a bobbing vessel on the water nonetheless. Natsu hadn't been sick then. Not green, not vacant like now. But then… just trains? Did this really matter at all? Did any of this matter?

Lucy closed her eyes, and drifted off into a nap.

* * *

After the train ride had come a cart ride, and then a walk out even further into a forested area. Erza, being the de facto leader due to fear of punishment, gave commands regularly along the way, whether they were strictly needed or not. Gray and Natsu traded off on carrying Juvia, though she would have preferred Gray all of the time. Wendy read out some translated notes Levy had written down for the travelers. It was a good summary of information while they followed the map to a bend in a river deep in the forest. A forest that, apparently, no locals would come near for fear of its being haunted.

The notes were rather succinct, if good. Arrive early evening, as the guardians only appear in the moonlight. (Lucy felt rather glad at this since it meant that her friends the stars would also be there.) The piece of the Trident could only be collected by one of the merfolk, not a human. The guardians would make it so.

"So, here's the bend," Natsu announced unnecessarily. "Now what? Same as before?"

Lucy looked around. It was dark out here, with no lights but the ones in the heavens, something that made her very grateful for the clear night. If there were clouds, it would be much harder to see. Besides, being able to look up and see her stars gave her comfort, made her feel stronger and more confident. She dearly needed confidence and strength to be able to keep moving forward, and with no option to do otherwise if she wanted to save her home, she would take whatever help was extended to her.

But this place was less of a river bend and more of a large, deep, silent pool of water. Why wasn't it called a lake? It didn't look this way on the map; the depiction seemed more like a free flowing river. Trees came right up to the still waterline, bark marked from different years of drought and flood, reminding Lucy of tidelines and the signature of the ocean on the land it teased and left behind in its ever changing ebb and flow. The whole area gave off an aura of otherness, of something not quite _normal_. Then again, Lucy realized, perhaps that being a mermaid walking around on legs with a bunch of chaotic lunatics precluded her from the privilege of judging what was normal or not.

"Whoa! What's that?" Gray asked, pointing out into the water.

It was a head of red hair, wrapped with river reeds, coming towards them. As it came closer to shore, the head rose from the water, dripping, attached to a slender neck and lithe, graceful figure of a beautiful woman who stopped when the water came about her knees. Her deep burgundy and green dress matched both her hair and her reeds, blending her into her surroundings.

"Greetings, travelers." She had a beautiful voice. "What brings you to our waters?"

"Well? What is it? Blind, remember?" Gajeel demanded. His gruff voice and tone were in direct contrast to the woman who had come from the water.

"Does the gentle moon do nothing to calm you, blind man?" she asked.

"Can't see the moon, so it don't do nothin' for me right now," Gajeel said.

Erza cleared her throat when a mildly offended look crossed her fellow redhead's face. "We have come seeking the piece-"

But Erza was cut off. "Pretty maiden, such pain you bear. Is he here, the man who wounded you so?"

Erza did not reply, stupefied.

"If he is," the river woman continued, "the rusulkas will help you. We will show you the way, and you can join us and find peace."

"Is that what you are? A rusulka?" Gray asked, seeing that Erza wasn't going to be responding any time soon.

"It is." A short response, clipped. She turned to Wendy. "And you, little maiden, you, too, have been wounded. Was it these men? Was it they who pierced your heart?"

"Um, n-n-no," Wendy stuttered, looking around at her companions, confused.

"Fear not, little maiden, for none can hurt you here. Speak freely."

"Really, they didn't do anything. They helped me!"

"Hey! Why d'you keep blaming us for hurting them? We'd never hurt our friends!" Natsu demanded.

"You would never act in such a way to cause harm?"

"Well, not on purpose. Everyone makes mistakes." Natsu shrugged.

"Not all wounds are caused by actions. Some of the worst to bear are those caused by inaction, the wounds you caused by not being where you should have been, when you should have been. By your failures, you selfish creature."

Natsu's face flashed with anger at the accusation, and he clenched his fists.

"We can't be everywhere at once, lady, so it's not-"

"Pretty maidens, come along with me. The rusulkas will help you, and show you the way. Come along with us in the light of the moon, the powerful moon."

"Okay, this lady is officially starting to creep me out," Gray said.

"I actually agree with ya fer once," Gajeel mumbled.

Lucy saw more redheads bobbing on the surface of the water, eyes watching the proceedings.

"You should join with us," said the rusulka again, focusing on Juvia. "What reason have you to stay in the world of men? You have suffered only pain and betrayal time and again. Join us."

"I won't become like you," Juvia said cautiously. "I do not even know what you are."

"Rusulkas are healed with blood," came the response.

Juvia recoiled. "Then I definitely won't join you!"

"Good idea," Natsu said in approval, somewhat calmer now than he had been.

"Yeah, just think about how weird you'd look with red hair!" Happy added. "Blue fur is definitely best."

Carla sniffed. "How ridiculous can you get, tom cat?"

"In your case, white is the best, of course," Happy allowed.

"That's not the point! We aren't talking about fashion and appearance right now. How could you possibly think we were!" the white cat huffed.

"But Juvia said she didn't want to become like the mean girls. Maybe it's something to do with their hair color."

Erza's sword swung in Happy's direction, causing the blue exceed to dive behind Natsu for safety. "And what, pray tell, is wrong with red hair?"

"Now's a good time for you to shut up," Gray advised.

"Don't tell Happy to shut up, you frozen jerk!" Natsu ordered.

"Well, someone has to try to teach him some manners, since _you_ never did!"

"Well, someone who strips shouldn't be teaching him anything!"

"Well, good thing I haven't stripped- Oh, man! How did that happen again?"

A disgusted sound called the attention back to the rusulka standing before the group. Lucy was starting to see her point. This world of men really was ridiculous sometimes. That didn't mean, however, that joining a bloodthirsty pack of redheads was the correct course of action. (And what did that even mean, that rusulkas were healed by blood? Lucy shivered.) If only she knew what the correct course of action actually was. If only they had been able to find some hint as to the whereabouts of the Trident piece before these angry females had shown up.

"I should think being in such company draining on your souls," the rusulka said derisively. "Draining you away until they decide to be finished with you, just to throw you aside like so much refuse, like a parchment soaked by rain and cannot be used any longer. They will throw you aside, and not even stay around long enough to hear the sharp slap of sopping parchment hit the hard surface. They will leave you destroyed and useless."

As she had spoken, several of her companions had risen higher out of the waters in a semi-circle behind her. Lucy felt the animosity from the group grow as their spokeswoman gave her dismal prediction. Had they all of them experienced such fates? Being treated like decomposing seaweed was hardly good for any relationship, with yourself or with other people. Perhaps the bitterness was explainable after all.

"We will do no such things to our friends!" Erza declared fiercely, her focus and stance now prepared for a frontal assault.

"So say you," the same rusulka said, "but what of these men? Who is to say they will not leave this pretty thing like all the others have? Especially that last man, the one who promised to keep you close when no one else wanted to be your friend. Poor little gloomy girl."

Juvia looked surprised. Lucy felt surprised. Did these rusulkas actually know something of Juvia's past? Or were they just attempting to get under Juvia's skin? Lucy forced her body to calm down. Now was no time to panic. At least Natsu and Gray had stopped fighting.

"Who says anythin' 'bout the past's gotta mean somethin' now?" Gajeel huffed, arms crossed. He was still standing behind the others in the group, not being able to see and move around freely, but he certainly wasn't going to be left out of the commentary. "I ain't lettin' Juvia get messed up and turned inta glop. So just shut up."

Juvia looked even more surprised. Lucy felt even more surprised. Her mouth opened a little in wonder. Was Gajeel being…kind?

"That was the sweetest thing you have ever said, Gajeel," Juvia said softly, in awe. "Thank you." Gajeel only huffed again in response.

The rusulkas all laughed, breaking the tender moment between friends. "If that is the best you can recall hearing, then you really should come with us. We will be your friends. We will never betray you. We will help you get the revenge you so badly need to soothe your heart."

"What would any of you know about my heart?" Juvia rebuffed.

"Yeah, what a load of crock," Natsu agreed.

Lucy personally opined that most observant people would know a good deal about Juvia's heart due to the simple fact that Juvia did not hide her feelings. Rather, Juvia wore her feelings like pearls and coral and shells: adornments that only served to enhance her beauty. No one could deny Juvia sparkled; no one could say she did not stand out in any crowd. But the fact Lucy and Natsu disagreed was nothing new, so Lucy didn't let it bother her now.

The mist thickened, forming a translucent wall around them. Colors appeared, turning into shapes which formed into images, which in turn portrayed a bustling town sprinkled with raindrops. Humans were walking around, many pairs cuddled up walking beneath coverings to shield them from the rain. One girl, skin tremendously pale, with large blue eyes and long blue hair, stood beneath a pink rain shield speaking to a man holding a black one over himself.

"But Juvia does not understand. Juvia thought you were happy," said the blue-haired image.

" _Juvia_?!" the whole group from Fairy Tail shouted in disbelief.

 _Juvia_?! No way, thought Lucy. No way. No way. Was this an actual scene from the past? From Juvia's past? She trained her eyes on her friend, scouring her face for some sort of recognition or reaction. The only response Lucy could detect was confusion. It's not like even Juvia would know if this was a true depiction or not. She had no more memory of her past than Lucy or Gajeel did of their own. So she turned her focus back to the images stretched and blurred in the mist around and before them.

"Well, sure, I was. But all this rain? It really starts wearing you down after a while. I can't take it anymore!" the man was saying in response.

"What of your promise to Juvia? That you wouldn't leave her alone in the rain?" It was such a sad voice, so pitiable. But it didn't sound too surprised at the sentiment the man expressed.

"Stop oozing water all the time and you won't have to be alone anymore, will you?" the man callously replied. "You're just so gloomy. It wears down on me all the time! All the time! So just… let's not."

"Juvia understands."

Natsu chose this moment to comment. "What the heck is with your funny talkin', Juvia?"

"Shut up, flame brain, we need to hear!" Gray shushed.

"But she doesn't talk anything like that now!"

"Another betrayal: your current comrades care more for the change in your speech patterns than the fact that they just watched a man crush your heart." The rusulka was really pressing the point, bearing down on them all with the gloomy scene.

"That's not true!" Gray and Natsu shouted together. They turned to each other. "Stop copying me!"

Juvia had remained silent all this time, watching the heartbreak with a sort of dark fascination. Whatever words had been exchanged by the couple in the image were now over, the relationship ending with the man walking away leaving pre-mermaid Juvia standing alone in the rain. Lucy wondered how strange it was to watch yourself in a body you didn't recognize, in a town unfamiliar to you, surrounded by people you didn't know, and experiencing emotions you did not recall.

The silent, sad Juvia of the past strolled slowly down a street of the town, rain still omnipresent. A flash of golden hair brought Lucy's mind to a reeling halt, golden hair tied half up to the side with a blue ribbon. A human girl wearing blue and white clothes walked down the street by the park's edge, casually glancing into store windows. Since she walked in the opposite direction of mist-Juvia, Lucy couldn't be entirely sure, but that human very much resembled…

No. It was too much of a coincidence, wasn't it? To have Juvia and herself be in the same town the same time before they were mermaids? And besides, since Lucy couldn't see the blonde girl's face, there was no way to be sure. No way. Even if the hairstyle Natsu had given her the other day did exactly match, though her own hair was much longer than other girl's. No. No. Too strange.

But she had to have been _somewhere_ before she was in and part of the sea. She had to have been _someone_ , _somewhere_ , and have seen people and things, and had conversations and learned and grown. How had she come to be in the sea in the first place?

Mist-Juvia walked further away from the blonde hair that matched Lucy's so the figure became smaller, but Lucy was able to see a male figure approach the girl. He looked a lot like the guy who had just emotionally mangled Juvia, in fact, his clothes matched and everything. He seemed to be plying the girl with words she had no interest in hearing; she seemed to be brushing him off with gestures he had no interest accepting. The last thing Lucy could make out was the girl's wrist caught in a grip she couldn't escape before the image faded entirely.

Had anyone else seen that? Had anyone else been listening? Were they just busy arguing again? Could they be worth more than background noise? Was it loud or silent right now? What had happened to that girl? What happened to Juvia after this? Was any of this even real anyway?

Lucy's head throbbed.

" _Pretty maiden, sad maiden, left all alone_

 _Come back to maiden breast,_

 _Come, come back home."_

The rusulkas, save their spokeswoman, were chanting in low tones that fell over each other, tumbling over each other's words and timing like water moving down a current: all going the same direction, all having the same destination, but different enough to make many silent voices a dull roar of intensity. It was unnerving, and everyone was on edge, ready for action. The head rusulka spoke over the chanting.

"Love is worthless. Love will do nothing but kill you, break you. Just like us."

" _Pretty maiden, sad maiden, broken by your beau,_

 _Break the cane that beat your blue,_

 _Break the hand that held the cane,_

 _Break him, break him torn in two."_

"We loved them. They broke us. So we broke them."

The chanting continued. Natsu came forward to stand closer to Lucy and Juvia. Gray picked Juvia up from her seated position near him. Lucy felt afraid.

"We killed them. We drowned them in our pain, in our sorrow, in our hate. They will never hurt anyone again."

Gray gave Juvia into Gajeel's keeping behind Lucy a ways, then assumed a battle position.

" _Pretty maiden, sad maiden, join with our hands,_

 _Take back your maiden heart,_

 _Take back the wedding banns,_

 _Take back the tender love,_

 _Take away his right to breathe,_

 _Then come back on home."_

What had happened to these creatures? Killing men? Drowning in such awful, horrible feelings? Lucy had drowned once, but she didn't remember it.

"Kill them." The rusulkas were in menacing positions, and their dripping red hair undulated with a dark power. It made Lucy feel sick. "Kill the men. They will only hurt you. Love will only hurt you. Kill them. End it before it can grow and fester."

"I don't care if love hurts. Love is worth everything." Juvia was so strong to face them!

"You can say that even in the pain of your memories? The images of your betrayal fresh in your mind?"

"I don't care about those memories. They don't hurt me."

"Even when you saw the man who hurt you caressing your pretty little friend only minutes after breaking you?"

Confused noises from the group were mumbled. Lucy's heart stuttered. Juvia didn't.

"I don't care about those memories. They aren't real to me. They don't hurt me."

The rusulka stood taller a moment. "Perhaps your memories do not hurt you, but what of the others? Does your party know no pain that could crush their hearts?"

Erza barked out, "Be ready!" The entire group braced themselves.

Nothing happened at first. Lucy looked around. Was there no follow up to that menacing threat of crippling pain? But no. Everyone from Fairy Tail seemed to be affected by some unseen influence. It started out small, some wincing, some looking around in confusion, but it grew steadily worse. Wendy was having an especially difficult time, there were tears in her eyes. Erza covered one eye, using her other arm to keep her sword steady before her. Gray clutched his head, bending down into a protective crouch. Even the two little cats were wilting. The sounds of pain only grew worse.

"They cannot speak. They are seeing their worst memories, feeling their worst moments of anguish, when their hearts ripped into ragged pieces." The rusulka beamed in gruesome delight.

Lucy gaped. These strong wizards, who seemed so brash and forwardly optimistic, had experienced enough evil in their pasts to cause this much damage now? Perhaps it was actually a blessing, not being able to recall the past. Sure the pleasures were missing, but surely the attending pain and damage wasn't something to be missed. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

The pained noises and surprised gasps from their companions provoked Gajeel. "What the heck is happenin'? Are we fightin' or something?"

Juvia lurched forward out of Gajeel's grasp, leaving him grasping for her and shouting. "Stop it," Juvia cried. "Stop it right now!" She fell to the ground, unable to withstand the pain in her feet.

"You stop it, ya crazy-!" Gajeel groped blindly in her direction. "There's water everywhere already and it's hard enough-"

Lucy started towards her friend, but a low, quiet, threatening noise behind Lucy caught her attention. Natsu. He was still in a fighting position, but there was something wrong. What was happening to him? She reached a hand out towards him, but he didn't notice. He didn't notice her efforts, but she noticed an _off-_ ness about him that disturbed her deeply. Was he turning red? And there was smoke coming from the hands fisted in his fighting stance. Prepared to battle an enemy, expression serious for the first time Lucy could remember, and completely frozen aside from his trembling resistance to the pain. But there must be _something_ she could do to stop this! But what? Why was she so _useless_ right now?

"I won't let you hurt them!" Juvia screamed.

And then the waters came to life. Shooting up from the riverbed, jetting from the streams they had passed coming here, flaring out from Juvia's hands: water, fast and vicious, was everywhere. When Juvia slashed her arms hard to the right, twisting her torso to follow the movement, a solid wall of water knocked into a howling rulsulka, flinging her back to the center of the lake. But the rusulka wasn't the only one who went flying: everyone else did, too.

Juvia's rushing waters bowled into Fairy Tail mages left and right, pushing them back and away from the rusulkas before steadying out to become a solid wall between the mages and their antagonists. Lucy and Juvia were the only ones left inside. Even Gajeel was outside the boundaries.

"How is she doing that?" Happy cried.

Apparently Happy was here as well, Lucy acknowledged, looking around to see if she had missed anyone else. Seeing no one else, she did wonder about Happy's question. She had no real answer. She was just grateful Juvia was _able_ to do it. The enemy was not so pleased. A rusulka from the right lashed out at Lucy with a dark wave of _something_ –energy? magic?- startling her enough to make her stumble backwards. Closing her eyes tight and throwing a hand up to shield her face, she was unable to stop the scared shriek from tearing her throat. Or the harsh round of hacking that followed immediately after.

A strong hand latched onto Lucy's foot. She kicked out blindly, feebly. She couldn't do anything but kick and cough and hear rushing water and taste blood. She kicked and kicked and kicked. She was dragged forward, the stone digging into her legs, dress getting pulled up around her knees. Her kicks were weak since she was still coughing. She was going to die because she was still coughing.

"I've got you, Lucy!" Happy cried. She felt warm little paws clasp about her shoulders, and then she was off the ground. Coughing residing, she opened her eyes and met eyes with the rusulka hanging off her ankle. Lucy gave one mighty kick to the creature's head, and it went flying too. Flying and screaming in pain when she crashed into a boulder. Lucy shuddered. "I've still got ya!" Happy reassured her. She didn't really understand how they were flying right now, but really, now was not the time to be thinking about it.

Lucy pointed at Juvia. "You wanna go to Juvia? Okay, hold on!"

But they couldn't get to her. There were too many streams of water turned into weapons, too many blasts of magic in the way.

"What should we do now?" Happy asked.

Lucy looked around. She couldn't think of anything to do. Unbidden, a thought of that stream of starlight bursting from her hand into the dark waters only last night. What she wouldn't do for such a stream of light right this instant! She could reach it out to Juvia! Her fists clenched, empty, and her side.

Light flared around Lucy's right fist. What? It grew brighter, the little star beams multiplying, the glow building. How did…? She didn't even talk to the stars! Another attack flew past her, reminding her that mysteries were not meant to be solved in the midst of a fight.

"Lucy, what's happening with your hand?" Happy hadn't seen this before, Lucy remembered. She pointed again at Juvia. "But I can't get to her, remember? We almost got blasted last time!"

Frustrated, Lucy pulled her fist back, then hurled it forward towards her friend. Shockingly, the starlight followed, bending, unfurling out like a stream as it whipped in Juvia's direction. The light latched onto Juvia's wrist, getting her attention. Lucy tried to pull her up, but the starlight stream wasn't quite strong enough. Juvia seemed to realize what was happening, though, because she shot a stream of water of equal size to the light back up to Lucy. The blue water and luminescent gold entwined, bound together. When the water reached Lucy's fist, she pulled again. Juvia came hurling towards them. Lucy acknowledged this wasn't her best thought out plan.

The trio landed far back from the shore, next to the water wall, stunned from their fall.

"Ugh." Happy moaned from underneath Lucy. "Ow. Lucy, you're kinda heavy."

Lucy couldn't decide if she had enough energy to whap Happy over the head for that comment. Juvia's whimper of pain from her foot being pushed into the ground by Lucy's jostling stopped Lucy from moving altogether. The rusulkas had stopped attacking for a moment, giving them a chance to breathe. It was not relaxing breathing chance, however, since Lucy was fully cognizant that the rusulkas were probably about to come back with another more powerful, more organized attack at any time.

Hollering and shouting caught her attention from the red-headed dangers in the river. Happy and Lucy looked at the water wall. Vague shapes and shadows of people were visible through the water. Lucy could even see some deep bulges and warping spots where the shapes were hitting, trying to come back into the fray. Muffled shouting, angry and worried, was barely audible over the rush of water.

"Juvia, do you think you can let down the water so the others can help?" Happy said. "They can help."

She shook her head. "I don't want them to get hurt again!" She began dragging herself forward, away from the wall. Lucy tried to stop her, help her, save her feet.

"But we can't do this alone!"

"I won't let Gray or anyone else get that hurt if I can do something about it." She kept moving.

"But-"

"You think you are more powerful than those you try to protect? You think you are better than them? That you are somehow immune?" The rusulkas were on the very edge of the water now, all gathered together against them. "You may not remember the pain, but it is there in your heart. You may not remember it, but we can make you feel it again!"

The rusulka spread hand out, and Juvia's eyes grew large. She clutched her chest. It was like what had happened to the others all over again. Only Juvia wasn't quiet. No, she was screaming. Screams of pain that you could _hear_ and _feel the ripping_ when you heard it. Screams high, shrill, like being shredded from the inside out. Screams that sounded how Lucy felt each time she coughed. It was horrifying. The wide open eyes, not blinking; the hands frantically trying to squeeze the gaping wound in the soul closed; the screams, piercing and shredding. It was horrifying.

Happy grabbed Lucy's dress, scared. Lucy, having only just managed to help her friend by finding miraculous starlight, was back to floundering around for any solution. The water wall was too strong to break through, so there was no help from out there. The rest of the water streams that had been shooting around had gone manic with Juvia's loss of control; Lucy's stream of starlight was vanished since their fall. Juvia was caught in some torturous nightmare, and her feet were absolutely ruined from her earlier conflict while Happy and Lucy had been flying and coughing. Happy was petrified. Was there any light here to help this time?

Her body moved on its own, standing, legs a little apart, arms coming before her and hands forming some kind of seal, with the first two fingers of each hand extended, close together, left over right, with the right thumb over the left. When her mouth opened, it occurred to her to be concerned. Her mouth opening generally ended with grief.

 _Into the darkness there comes a light…_

The words came into her mind, and tried to come out of her mouth, but it didn't work. More coughing, more blood, her throat already being torn from her last episode. Regardless, her mouth opened again to repeat the endeavor. More coughing, more blood. _What_ was she _doing_?

Juvia screamed again. Lucy tried again.

Her posture never changed, though her shoulders drooped between convulsions, her head slightly tilted forward. By this point, Lucy figured it was probable that permanent damage had been done to her throat from the clawing cuts opened with each sound. She could feel the blood trickling, spluttering, from her mouth, little streams trailing down her chin, dripping from there or following the curve of her jaw and continuing down her neck. It was warm. It was disgusting.

Juvia screamed again. Lucy tried again.

Still the first line, still trying to speak it aloud. Every attempt met with the same end.

Juvia screamed again. Lucy stopped trying.

She spoke.

"Into the darkness there comes a light…"

And she kept speaking. Every word brought more painful sensations of cuts opening, and more blood came. She didn't even know what words came out past that first line. But she kept speaking until she stopped.

When she stopped, the lights started. Bright balls of light, deep colors, giant bursts, exploding, shooting and whizzing around. Rusulkas screamed, flung around, burned. Water crashed about.

Lights stopped. Water streams stopped. Juvia hunched forward, hands coming loosely over her eyes. She fell forward, lying half on her side. Her face wore a broken smile, and she sobbed out a broken, laughing sound. She sounded mad, more than a little crazy. The water wall and Lucy dropped at the same time.

People were screaming their names. Lucy dragged herself over to her broken friend and collapsed on Juvia's shaking stomach.

* * *

 **Dear Friends,**

 **It's been a long time again. I apologize. *Inserts all sorts of health related reasons, resting against a soapbox that's too big for her little legs to climb up on.* And while I'm on, er,** _ **by**_ **this soapbox, let me say something: Not all illnesses are visible. Some of the worst diseases and ailments aren't obvious to the average passerby. But that doesn't mean they are to be neglected, or the people suffering from them are making up the pain or struggles that come with being ill. And one more thing. THANK YOU. Thank you for your support in reading my humble offerings, for your kind words left in comments, and for your presence in the fanfiction community. You guys are wonderful. One of you left a review that simply said, "Welcome home," on the last chapter. Thank you. You're wonderful.**

 **So here's to me not being dead once again. Here's to me writing and trying to find myself in a non-health-and-survival-are-the-only-things-you-have-time-or-energy-for way once again. Here's to all of us reading and rejoicing in our favorite characters together.**

 **And while it's not perfect, here's what I did. Please, let me know what you think. Writing action scenes in such a deep first person narrative, writing only what Lucy would notice, it makes for an interesting time. I'd like to know if it makes sense to people who aren't me.**

 **Cheers!**

 **Anne-Marie**


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